Saving Grace
by DreamSweeper
Summary: Seventh Year: Voldemort has found someone Harry never knew existed. Will anything ever be the same? Written Pre HBP
1. Discoveries and Questions

**Note: Okay, so here's the thingy. I originally came into this story thinking it would be, well, somewhat different. And since I haven't really been writing what I've been envisioning, I've decided to revise it, throw some chapters together, and hope for the best. I'm really sorry its taken so long to get everything together, but I've been in a rut. I'll let you know when its over with. Thanks for reading!**  
  
Saving Grace – Chapter One – "Discoveries and Questions"  
  
The scorching August sun was setting on the horizon and the town of Surrey breathed a sigh of relief. Yet another record heat wave was taking its toll on the whole of England, and one young man was positively sure that if hell existed, he was in it. As the only person outside in the heat, Harry Potter was sure that he was being punished for something he must have done in a past life, as he was busily cleaning out his aunt and uncle's garage, and cursing karma for catching up to him. Sweat dripped from his forehead as he threw yet another box of his cousin's old toys into the garbage receptacle.  
  
He could hear the television on in the Dursley's living room, over the air-conditioner that was turned on full power. Sighing, Harry continued to dig deeper into the abyss that was the Dursley's car port.  
  
For the love of Merlin, can't these people throw anything away? He asked himself as he threw a box with broken remote control cars away.  
  
For the most part, Harry was a normal teenage boy, going into his seventh year at school, preparing to enter the "real" world. But then there was the small part about being a wizard, and a good one at that, that made him slightly abnormal, by muggle standards at any rate. At the age of one, he was able to defeat the darkest wizard in history, Lord Voldemort. However, this came to pass at the expense of his parents' lives. Since then, he had been raised by his wretched relatives, the Dursely's. They gave him shelter (in a cupboard beneath the stairs and a small closet-sized room), fed him (whatever Dudley didn't eat, which wasn't much since Dudley was a giant cow), and clothed him (with the clothes Dudley had grown out of). Obviously, Harry had grown use to living off of necessities instead of desire. His cousin, unfortunately, had grown extremely accustom to the exact opposite of that. Dudley, however, had almost every indulgence his over-worked heart and simple mind could come up with.  
  
Then at the age of eleven, Harry received his official Hogwarts letter, informing him that he was a wizard and magic indeed existed, which his relatives had told him time and again that it did not. For the next six years, he fought against evil forces, and the newly resurrected Voldemort himself, in order to keep those he loved safe. Unfortunately, he failed in his fifth year, when his godfather, Sirius, was killed at the hands of Voldemort's right-hand woman. Shortly after, he learned of a prophecy that proclaimed that he alone would be able to kill the dark wizard, or be killed in the process. So far, Harry hadn't succeeded, but like I said, he was an average run-of-the-mill teenage savior-of-the- wizarding-world; the boy who lived.  
  
Harry had come to the last stack of boxes in the garage, relieved that his uncle would now be able to park inside the garage, when a name on one of the boxes caught his attention. A small cardboard box with "Lily" hastily written across it was in a corner of the garage, collecting dust and fading out of memory.  
  
Intrigued, Harry picked it up, studied the box and walked over to his uncle's work bench. Once there, he slowly opened it. What are they keeping from me now? Harry thought to himself, the familiar anger and frustration building in the pit of his stomach.  
  
As he opened it, dust fell from the cardboard. It seemed like it had been at least sixteen years since any attention had been paid to it. Inside, he found a dusty moth-eaten blanket. It was blue, and was trimmed in satin with the initials "HP" on a corner of it. He fingered it gently, and realized that it must have been the blanket Professor Dumbledore, his school's Headmaster, delivered him to the Dursley's doorstep in. Harry dug deeper into the box, and found a small envelope with the Dursley's address on it. Curious, he opened it, and found a baby shower invitation.  
  
It read: "We invite you to share in our joy and celebrate a new life at the home of James and Lily Potter..."  
  
"A baby shower?" Harry mumbled to himself, confusion evident on his face, "What?" Checking the date, he saw that it was from 1981. "That's impossible," he continued, baffled, "I was born in 1980. What the hell is going on he-."  
  
"Boy!" shouted his porcine-like Uncle Vernon, interrupting his examinations. "Shut the car port and come inside and make supper!"  
  
"Yes Uncle Vernon! I'll be right there!" Harry shouted back. He hadn't really meant to comply, but that response was simply programmed into his head. After sixteen years of servitude, compliance came naturally, albeit unenthusiastically.  
  
Sighing, Harry put the blanket and invitation back inside the box and carried it outside of the garage, shut the door, and went inside. He ran to his room as quickly as possible and put the box inside his closet to prevent Dudley, his whale of a cousin, from snooping around. Looking back at his closet once, Harry exited his room and descended the stairs to help prepare supper for his insufferable muggle relatives.  
  
Harry was good at cooking. He also enjoyed it. He prided himself on whipping up anything at a moments notice. However, he had to act like the preparation the Dursely's meals was an unwelcome chore, otherwise Vernon or Petunia would take that away from him. God forbid Harry had anything that made him happy in that house. While he was busy setting the table and frying the ham on the grill, he thought about the invitation. It plagued his mind. Why would his parents have a baby shower after he was born?  
  
Harry was acutely aware of serving dinner, and then cleaning up after the Dursley's finished without so much as a "thank-you" (although that was to be expected). Harry walked up to his room, careful not to walk too loudly and disturb one of his relatives. He entered his room, sat on his floor, and pulled the box out of the closet. Once again, he was mesmerized by the old blanket. He looked at the invitation, baffled.  
  
"I don't understand..." Harry murmured. "I should ask Remus. That's what I'll do," Harry said, speaking to Hedwig who was perched in her cage, "I'll ask Remus about it when I see him tomorrow."  
  
Content with that small resolution, Harry folded the blanket and tucked it away in his Hogwarts trunk. At least it would be safe in there from moths and other bugs. Finally, Harry reluctantly pulled out his potions book and started working on his holiday homework.

Harry was dreaming. He knew it. He was sitting on a park bench in a town he had never seen before, watching children play on the swings, running around, simply being children. His heart constricted, knowing that he had never known a childhood like that. He hadn't been allowed to play at the park on Privet Drive. Dudley made sure of that, along with his miniature gang of pre-teen hoodlums.  
  
Harry sat under the bright sun, but did not feel warm. Laughing couples walked by him. An old man walking a dog jogged by. It was an odd dream. Not one horrible thing was happening.  
  
Harry felt a presence by his side and looked to his right. There on the bench beside him sat Hermione, smiling at the little ones playing in the sand. She turned her head and smiled at Harry. Then she stood and walked down the path. He could hear her humming softly.  
  
Harry attempted to stand and follow her, but he felt himself being bound to the bench. Alarmed at his inability to stand, he drew his wand and tried to think of any charms that would help. A shadow fell over him and Harry looked up.  
  
"Hi." The figure said. The sun was behind her and Harry could only see the outline of her body. It was quite obviously a girl. He shaded his eyes with his hands and let his vision adjust.  
  
The girl was smiling. She had auburn hair and had tied it in a tidy braid behind her.  
  
"Who are you?" She asked Harry. Her accent told Harry that she was not from England. It sounded more like American English. Very much like American English.  
  
"Harry." He answered, not knowing what else to say.  
  
"Oh. Are you new around here?" She asked, still smiling.  
  
"I don't know." Harry said, a grin creeping on his face. Her smile was infectious. "I don't even know how I got here." He admitted.  
  
"Oh. That could be a problem." The girl sat on the bench beside him. "What's with the stick?" She asked, looking at his wand.  
  
Harry remembered he was stuck to the seat and tried to get up again. It finally worked, and he stood up straight. He put his wand away, and willed himself to wake up. This red-headed girl made him slightly uncomfortable. She was very forward.  
  
"You're leaving?" She asked, looking disappointed. Harry nodded. Her eyes seemed sad at the prospect. But she started smiling again, and said, "Its okay, I guess. Everyone leaves... eventually. Bye!" The girl got up and ran down the path, singing softly. Harry was left standing by the bench, staring after her, feeling confused.  
  
Then he woke. He looked over to the glow in the dark clock that barely worked. Dudley had thrown it at the wall when it had gone off too early one morning, and the Dursley's had generously given it to Harry. The clock read 5:52 in the morning.  
  
It was August fifteenth and Harry had a little over two weeks before he would return to the castle he referred to as his home – Hogwarts. The summer seemed to be stretching out, and the days were dragging.  
  
"Potter, you are quite possibly the only person in England that wants to return to school." Harry thought to himself, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. "Wait... scratch that. Hermione wants to go back to school even more." Harry smiled at the thought of Hermione. She probably had her homework already done, along with reading all of the books required for passing the NEWT's.  
  
Harry swung his feet over the side of his bed and looked at his desk, his potions book opened to the summer reading he was attempting to get done with. Harry had only half of a foot of parchment left to fill up on the uses of gillyweed, and he was pleased so far that he knew most of the uses already; using it to grow gills and fins for better swimming being one of them.  
  
For the most part, Harry was done with his holiday work. What else was he suppose to do? He was virtually a prisoner in Privet Drive. He couldn't attempt to go outside of Privet Drive without being flanked by an entourage of aurors. The risk was too great. Professor Dumbledore, the headmaster of Hogwarts, had spoken of an infiltration of Deatheaters in the Surrey area, and the danger was so surmountable that even Harry acknowledged that he had to be accompanied by aurors at all times.  
  
Sighing, Harry sat down at his desk again and went back to work on his holiday homework.  
  
The sun was coming over the horizon when Harry rolled up his essay, satisfied with its quality and length. He looked out his window in time to see an owl approach his window, bearing a letter from Hogwarts.  
  
"Class necessities." Harry thought, slightly bored at the thought of picking his ingredients out for NEWT potions.  
  
The owl landed on the perch inside Harry's room that Harry had built for Hedwig and other owls. Uncle Vernon didn't know about it, otherwise he would have burned it long ago. The owl extended its leg for Harry to remove the letter. Afterward, it hopped to Hedwig's cage where the snow owl allowed the school owl some water and a few bits of food.  
  
Harry opened the letter and pulled his class list from the envelope.  
  
"_Dear Mr. Potter,  
  
Enclosed is a list with the necessary components of your classes. As you indeed, have special circumstances that hinder your ability to buy the mentioned items, Professor Dumbledore has allowed Mr. Remus Lupin to purchase them for you.  
  
_ "_Also, at this time, I would like to congratulate you on being selected for the position of Headboy. Inside you will find your badge along with list of responsibilities that you no doubt are capable of. Please meet with your counterpart, Hermione Granger, in the lead compartment of the Hogwarts Express no later than 10:45 am on September 1st. Again, congratulations on your achievement.  
  
Sincerely,  
  
Minerva McGonagall  
  
Deputy Headmistress  
  
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry_"  
  
Harry was slightly more than stunned when he finished reading the letter. He was Headboy. How could that be possible, since he was not even named a prefect? Hermione being Headgirl was hardly a surprise. Everyone had always known she would get the position in a heartbeat, but Harry? He was constantly getting into trouble and well, getting into trouble. Admittedly, he was far better behaved than the Weasley twins, but so were a lot of people.  
  
Harry closed his gaping mouth, poured the contents of the envelope onto the desk and saw the gold badge of responsibility on all of his papers. Harry picked it up and held it up to the light. The Hogwarts symbol was engraved at the top with the word "Headboy" was engraved below it. Finally, Harry smiled and whipped out a fresh piece of parchment.  
  
"_Hermione_," he wrote.  
  
"_Congratulations on your being Headgirl. We all knew you would make it. I guess we'll be seeing each other a lot next term, not that we never see each other anyway. Enough of my babbling. See you on September 1st in the lead compartment.  
  
Yours,  
  
Harry Potter  
  
Headboy  
  
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry_"  
  
Harry grinned as he thought of how Hermione would act when she got his letter. Of course he was joking when he put his official title down below his name. Harry looked at Hedwig's cage and asked the school owl to make just one more stop before returning to Hogwarts. The owl obliged him and held out its leg waiting for the letter. It flew away and Harry's eyes wandered back to his badge.  
  
He heard his cousin stop snoring, and heard the footsteps of his large Uncle getting out of bed. Frantically, Harry put the badge back in the envelope and shoved the entire thing into his trunk, briefly glimpsing at the blanket and invitation he had found the night before.  
  
"Boy!" Vernon shouted, pounding on his door. "Get your useless bum out of bed and make breakfast."  
  
Harry looked back at the window and closed it, silently counting the days, hours, minutes and seconds until September 1st arrived.  
  
When Harry had finished preparing breakfast and had retreated up into the solitude of his room, he once again took the old blanket from his trunk. He fingered the "HP" initials that were embroidered into its corner and ran his thumb along the satin edge.  
  
Remus was expected to appear at 9:00 that morning to help Harry practice his Defense skills. Ordinarily Harry would not be allowed to practice magic, however the Ministry had granted Harry permission, as the previous year had proven that only Harry could kill Lord Voldemort.  
  
When the former Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge had fired the killing curse at the dark lord, Voldemort had only laughed and shot the same curse back. Fudge never had a chance; simply a fool's hope, that by killing Voldemort, he would be the savior of the wizarding world, and thus reelected. When Fudge fell, so did the ministry. If not for Dumbledore, Voldemort would have taken over then and there. Fudge's successor, Amos Diggory, was a better organizer of defense tactics, swifter in ordering offensive action, and better at initiating conflict management. It was Diggory himself who had given Harry the approval to train during the summer while away from Hogwarts.  
  
In any case, Harry awaited Remus' arrival, and began to grow bored as he watched the clock flip its numbers from 9:05 to 9:06. And from 9:06 it went to 9:07, and so on. Harry stood and paced about his room, becoming worried as the minutes flipped by. Remus was typically punctual. Hopefully, nothing had happened. A barrage of images flew at Harry's brain. Remus lying dead with Voldemort standing over his fallen form, laughing. Remus in a forest with leaves falling on his forgotten body. Remus at the foot of a flight of stairs with his neck at an uncomfortable-  
  
"Stop!" Harry commanded his brain. One could only tolerate so many bad thoughts before going crazy. "He's not dead, just busy," Harry rationalized, "Someone would have been here to tell me if Remus was dead. Probably Tonks."  
  
It was at that moment as Harry was berating himself for thinking morbid thoughts that Remus popped out of thin air into Harry's room. Harry looked him over, and determined that Remus had indeed, had a busy night.  
  
"Rough night?" Harry asked, curious at Remus' haggard appearance.  
  
"I'm sure you have an idea of just how rough." Remus sighed and threw Harry a box of Bertie Bott's before continuing. "There was a raid in Knockturn Alley. A Deatheater had threatened a Hogwart's student getting her supplies and an Order member intercepted it. Then reinforcements were called in and a full force raid was initiated." Remus sighed again, worn from the night before.  
  
"Was it anyone I know?" Harry asked, concerned for whoever the unlucky student was.  
  
"You do." Remus admitted. Hesitantly, he spoke her name. "Lavender Brown was hit by a stunning spell, but she is alright." Harry breathed a sigh of relief. "She was sent to St. Mungo's, but was released within an hour. Apparently," Remus continued, "the trauma of being called a blood traitor did more damage than the stunning spell."  
  
Harry nodded his head, pensively chewing on a spaghetti flavored jellybean. He was glad that Lavender wasn't hurt, but he was even happier that it hadn't been anyone he was closer with, like Hermione, Ginny, or even Luna.  
  
"By the way," Remus added, "Congratulations on being Headboy. Your dad would be proud of you." Harry grinned slightly, and wondered if Sirius would have been as well, or simply disappointed that Harry could no longer break the rules, but enforce them instead.  
  
Remus stood and expanded Harry's room with an expansion charm followed by a sound proofing charm. Harry withdrew his wand and prepared himself for a tough training session. Remus never held back, especially when he had nights like last night.  
  
An hour and a half later, Harry lie on the floor next to his bed, completely exhausted, and covered in sweat. Remus sat against the wall by Harry's window and breathed heavily. He looked at Harry and chuckled slightly. Harry looked over at Remus and gave him a curious look.  
  
"Nothing." Remus said, "It's just that when your father and I would duel, it would end much like this. Both of us exhausted, and neither of us saying a word. Then of course, Sirius would start clapping and calling us a pair of old men." Remus looked up at the ceiling. "Merlin, I would give anything to have that back."  
  
Harry grinned. He loved hearing about his father's youth, when he was not being a metaphoric ass of course. A jolt ran through Harry's brain as he remembered the blanket and the invitation that lie at the bottom of his trunk. Shaking, he got up and dragged himself over to his trunk. Remus looked at him curiously and watched as Harry pulled the blanket and envelope out of the trunk and trudge beside Remus.  
  
"I found these yesterday while I was cleaning out the Dursley's garage. I know the blanket was mine, but I was wondering if you could tell me about the other thing." Harry explained.  
  
Remus opened the envelope and took out the invitation and read through it. After a moment of consideration, he said, "Well, it obviously wasn't for you. You were already born."  
  
Harry tapped the back of his head against the wall. "I know that, Remus, but if it's not for me, then who is it for? Is it possible that my parents were going to have another kid?"  
  
"It is possible, although I wouldn't have known about it. When your parents went into hiding after you were born, I didn't see them too much. Sirius thought I was a Deatheater, and I thought Sirius was a Deatheater... we didn't talk very much after that." Remus reminisced.  
  
"So you don't know what this means then?" Harry asked, disappointed.  
  
"I'm sorry Harry, but... if it means what I think it does, then Lily could have been pregnant went she died." Remus said, upset at the thought of one of his best friend's child not making it into the world.  
  
Harry looked over at him and sighed. His question still remained unanswered.  
  
The rest of the summer passed uneventfully. Harry had more dreams involving the auburn haired girl, and his scar sometimes prickled when he woke, but he couldn't sense Voldemort in any of the dreams.  
  
The day before Harry left for King's Cross, he stared out the window of his room. Remus had "bent" the rules a bit and left his room slightly enlarged, and Harry's room was finally bigger than a closet.  
  
When the thought surfaced in Harry's brain that he would never have to return to Privet Drive, a smile crept on Harry's face. He was leaving the hell hole he had been forced to live in for sixteen years. Next year he could be living in a flat with Ron. Harry began laughing and jumped for joy. He had made it. It almost killed him, but he had triumphed over the Dursley's. As Harry tucked into bed later on that night, the smile remained, and as he cleared his mind before succumbing to unconsciousness, it was his last coherent thought. 


	2. Home

Dreamsweeper: Harry Potter is mine I tell you,** MINE**!  
  
Ducky: Whacks Dreamsweeper on the head _Er... Sorry guys, my sister's a little crazy right now. I just gave her meds to her, and she should be getting better in a few minutes. Er... And until they kick in, here's the second part of Home. Enjoy!_

Chapter Two – Home  
  
When Harry woke on September 1st, the moon was still shining. It was a full moon, and Harry knew better than to expect Remus in the morning to escort him to King's Cross. The anticipation kept building in Harry's mind that he was finally leaving the Dursley's, and he would never have his uncle darken another doorway in his life again. Dudley would no longer push him down the stairs "on accident" as well as blaming Harry for eating everything in the fridge. Aunt Petunia would never be able to yell at him for picking on her "Dear Duddikins." And no more cleaning the entire house to justify his existence as well. Harry tried to hold back his tears. When he couldn't stand it anymore, tears dripped from the corner of his eyes, and Harry made a feeble attempt at keeping his jovial laughter inside. He gasped for breath as he tried to chuckle quietly, and looked around. His trunk was completely packed. The room was completely bare with the exception of his parent's picture that sat atop his desk.  
Everything that Harry had ever treasured was inside his trunk. Of course, nothing the Dursley's have given him was included in it. All of the hand-me down clothes from Dudley remained in the closet. The clock he'd been using the entire summer, even his glasses were going to stay; he finally bought his own pair.  
As the sun crept over the horizon, Harry had a sudden epiphany and quietly opened his door and crept down the hallway to the stairs. Ten minutes later he came back into his room with a smug expression on his face, and he was patting something in his robe pocket. He sat down against the bed again, and slowly, his eyes closed, and he fell asleep once more.  
"Boy!" Uncle Vernon shouted through his door, startling Harry out of his dream. "You get your useless carcass down here in five minutes, because we're leaving in ten!"  
Harry looked at the old clock and realized it still said 7:30. It had finally died. He took his own watch of his desk and gasped. It was already 9:30. He had to leave immediately if he was going to make it to King's Cross on time, with traffic.  
He changed into his clothes and threw his robe into his trunk. He slammed the trunk shut and turned to get Hedwig's cage. That's when he saw his parent's picture on his desk, and he grabbed it and opened the trunk again. He wrapped the frame in the robe and shut the trunk again. Then he remembered something else and opened the trunk, grabbed something out of his robe and put it in his pants pocket.  
Harry opened the door to his room for the last time and with Hedwig by his side, dragged his trunk out. Down the stairs, making an obscene amount of noise, he made it down to the car with two minutes left to spare. Uncle Vernon was loudly complaining about something again, and once more, Harry ran back up to his room to fetch something. By the time they left in the car, it was 9:45, and Harry waved goodbye to Privet Drive, forever.  
It took Vernon fifty-five minutes exactly to arrive at the train station, and Harry was having a hard time keeping himself from collapsing because of excitement. When they had unloaded his trunk and Hedwig, Vernon turned around to get back in the car.  
"Uncle Vernon," Harry called.  
"What is it, boy?" He grumbled.  
"I just wanted to say, well, thanks for everything."  
"Go and catch your bloody train, you no good freeloader." Vernon said as he turned back to his car. He turned around again. "And don't think that when you're done with school you can bring your abnormal friends around for a chat, do you hear me?"  
Harry's face remained neutral. "Yes Uncle Vernon."  
With that, Vernon got back in the car and drove away. Harry turned to Hedwig, and shrugged. He smirked, and laughed at what he had left in Vernon's car. Then he pointed his carriage in the direction of Platform 9 and three quarters and made his way there.  
Vernon was beginning to turn onto the highway that would take him back to Surrey when he looked down to his left at the passenger seat.  
"Damn fool of a boy, what did he forget?" He muttered. He reached over and grabbed the dark brown whatever it was from the seat and looked at it closely. It was a sock and it was old and holey. Something inside the sock made a crinkling noise, and while Vernon was at a red light, he pulled it out of the sock. It was a piece of paper that read,

> "_Uncle Vernon, Aunt Petunia, and Dudley.  
  
Thank you for your generous hospitality for the past sixteen years. I'm sure my parents would have been thrilled to know how well you took care of me. I thank you for helping to grow up so quickly and helping me to learn how to be such a hard worker and how to cook. Regrettably, I won't be returning, and I took with me my own keepsake to remind me of just how 'good' you've been to me. I know you won't miss it, and I assure you that I will cherish it for years to come. I leave you with a gift you once gave to me. I no longer need it. Take care of it as I have. _
> 
> _Thank you again, your nephew,   
__Harry Potter._"

"That little son of a..." Vernon muttered. Harry had given him the same sock Vernon had given him for Christmas so many years ago. The little freak had kept it, only to give it back to him.  
Harry stowed his things in the baggage compartment of the Hogwarts Express after running through the platform portal. When he went to sit down in his own compartment, he remembered that he had plans already made in the lead compartment with one of his best friends. He ran to the front of the train and approached the lead compartment that had a gold plaque on it engraved with the words "Head Car." Harry grinned as he turned the doorknob and entered into the train car. He expected to see Hermione sitting down by the window reading the latest edition of Hogwarts: A History, but when he entered, he was by himself. He looked over to the window and saw a stream of students coming through the platform and nervous parents following behind them, yelling last minute instructions. Harry could see the first year students, gazing with awe at the Hogwarts Express and he watched their eyes dance with excitement. He thought back to his first time seeing the Express. It was a godsend to take him away to what would become his new home.  
"Is this seat taken, sir?" A voice interrupted his thoughts.  
Harry turned around to look at the intruder in the compartment. Hermione stood in the doorway and smiled broadly at him. Harry smiled back and met her halfway through the car, wrapping her in a huge bear hug.  
When they drew apart, Hermione walked to the seat by the window and sat down.  
"So, how was leaving?" She inquired, still smiling. "Was it everything you had hoped for?"  
"All that I hoped for and more." He answered honestly, looking at her. She had grown up over the summer. What once was a little girl with bony knees was now a young woman with a gentle and kind smile. Harry shook those thoughts away from him and mentally reprimanded himself for being so sentimental.  
"Well, congratulations on being Headboy, Harry. I knew you would do it."  
"Well you and you alone. I was shocked speechless when I got my letter. I seriously didn't expect to get Headboy, Quidditch captain, maybe, but Headboy? I wasn't even selected for a prefect."  
"Maybe they see past that, and look to your leadership skills." Hermione tried to rationalize. "All I'm saying, Harry, is that perhaps Dumbledore picked you because he knows that you are competent in leadership, and are brave enough to stand up to any number of students. You did it last year, remember?"  
Harry rolled his eyes as Hermione brought up how Harry had organized an entire force of students to defend Hogwarts against a Deatheater invasion while Dumbledore was away at the Ministry. It was Voldemort's plan to stretch the ministry's defense so thin that they would be able to make small tears and infiltrate not only Hogwarts, but the Ministry of Magic, as well as the muggle's Parliament. It had come close, but because of the students' efforts, Hogwarts had remained uncaptured, and Dumbledore and the aurors were able to focus on keeping the Deatheaters out of the Ministry of Magic and Parliament.  
"It really wasn't a big deal, Hermione. I just did what anyone else would have done. I wish you would stop bringing that up." Harry muttered, looking at his feet.  
"Well, like it or not," she shot back, "While the rest of the student body was either scared beyond all reason or conspiring against us, you kept it all together, and saved so many lives. Harry, you did."  
Harry looked at her. He opened his mouth to say something, but was interrupted.  
"She's right, of course, so don't even try to deny it."  
Harry and Hermione looked to the door to the compartment and there stood Ron, who had grown more than a few centimeters and looked as if he had to stoop to make it through the doorway.  
"Ron!" Hermione cheered as she stood up to greet him with her customary hug.  
Harry stood and smiled broadly. After Hermione was done hugging him, Ron turned and shook Harry's hand and hugged him with one arm, patting him on the back several times.  
"It's bloody good to see you, mate. I didn't know if you'd survive an entire summer with those muggles. They are positively the most evil muggles on the face of the planet." He said as he sat down and rested his feet on the seats across from him.  
"I'm pretty sure Adolf Hitler tops the Dursley's when it comes to evil muggles, Ron." Hermione chided gently.  
Ron considered this. He'd heard of that Hitler guy in Muggle Studies. The insane bastard had murdered six million people. "Okay, so next to Hitler," he amended himself, "the Dursley's come in at a close second place. Better?" He asked Hermione. She nodded in approval.  
Harry grinned and wondered where his best friends had gone to. Hermione and Ron were usually at each others' throats by now, and so far, they'd been getting along. He stuffed his hands in his pockets and grasped something in his palm. He pulled it out of his pocket and grinned, remembering why he had run downstairs so early that morning.  
"What is that you have there, Harry?" Hermione asked.  
Harry held it up for them to see. Upon seeing Ron's characteristically blank face, he explained, "It's..."  
  
"The doorknob from the cupboard!" Petunia Dursley screamed. "He stole it and we can't get into that bloody cupboard!" Vernon's face grew red and his cheeks puffed out upon seeing the knobless door. That damn boy had stolen the doorknob to the cupboard underneath the stairs. That no good, ungrateful, spoiled, foolish....  
  
Ron and Hermione had tears in their eyes from laughing so hard when Harry told them about his souvenir. "It's the one thing I really wanted from them." He explained, "And I made sure they won't be able to get back into the cupboard...ever."  
"H-How in the w-world did you m-manage that, Harry?" Hermione stuttered out between giggles.  
"I used the twins' 'Eternal Everlasting Super-Duper Glue' to seal the door shut. Unless they go to Diagon Alley or Hogsmeade, they'll never get it unstuck." With that, Harry, Hermione and Ron were once again infected by giggles and laughing. Five minutes later the whistle on the Express blew and the engine started pumping, and Harry was on his way home  
Hermione breathed deeply and composed herself. Harry and Ron followed suite and chuckled lightly every few moments. There was a knock at the door and the prefects began arriving and took their seats in the compartment. Ginny smiled at Harry and gave Hermione a big hug and sat down. She'd been made prefect the year before, and many students thought she had a good chance at being Headgirl for the next year.  
Draco Malfoy entered the head car and said nothing as the meeting began. He glared harshly at Ron, Harry and Hermione, sneering at them with contempt at any opportunity. Pansy Parkinson, the other seventh year prefect copied his actions.  
Despite Malfoy's disgusted looks, Hermione kept the meeting running smoothly, and Harry sat beside Ron, preventing him from crossing the car to beat that look off Malfoy's face. Harry stood and welcomed the prefects and introduced himself, although he didn't really need to. Malfoy snorted and Ron made to get up, but Hermione kept her hand on his shoulder and squeezed tightly as she ignored the entire thing. When everything was over and done with, they had their first meeting date scheduled, the schedule for patrolling the train, and the names of the guides for the first years after the Welcoming Feast.  
Everyone got up to leave but Harry, Hermione, Ron. Ginny lingered a bit, making polite conversation, but then excused herself to find her "Beau of the Week," as Hermione lovingly called it. For the rest of the trip, they played Exploding Snap, Wizard's Chess, slept and read. Of course, Hermione did all of the reading. When they came closer to Hogwarts, they changed into their robes, and Harry and Hermione pinned on their engraved pins, and Ron pinned on his own prefect badge.  
When they arrived, Harry was able to easily locate Hagrid, who was directing the first years to the boats, and each gave him a hug. Hagrid smiled kindly at all three of them and said in a choked up voice, "Welcome back fer your last year, you three." Before Hagrid became a complete sobbing mess, he turned around a started gathering the first years up into the boats.  
The trio got into the first empty carriage they found and all stared at the morbid thestrals. They had all seen people die the year before, and as much as all of them wanted to forget it, the thestrals remained a painful reminder. Hermione shuddered as she remembered watching students being struck down by killing curses. Pavarti Patil's death lingered in her mind the most. Pavarti had been standing right next to her. One minute she was fixing protective charms around the students and then she was dead. Harry sensed her sorrow and put his hand on her shoulder. She smiled at him and thanked him wordlessly.  
As the carriages approached Hogwarts, Harry's eyes took in the wonder that was his home... a 1000 year old castle. Despite the pain he had experienced here last year, seeing some of his friends killed in cold blood right in front of him, he couldn't help being glad to be home.  
As the school, minus the first years, flooded into the Great Hall, Harry, Ron and Hermione took their usual seats and looked up and down the table for familiar faces. Neville Longbottom smiled and waved. Lavender Brown, who was recovering quite well smiled timidly at them. Colin Creevey waved to Harry, his eyes showing a hint of sadness. His brother, Dennis, had been struck down during the invasion as well. Dennis was an innocent third year student trying to run for cover, and he was murdered. Harry gripped his fork in anger.  
Professor Dumbledore sat in the middle of the teachers' table and when Harry looked up at him, Dumbledore smiled at him. Harry looked back at Hermione and she smiled at him as well. The Great Hall quieted down as the doors opened and the first years were led in by someone other than Professor McGonagall.  
"That's odd," Hermione commented. Ron and Harry agreed, but refrained from adding their own comments.  
Professor Sprout led the frightened first years to the front of the Great Hall and placed the sorting hat on the four legged stool. It stood silent for a few moments and then sprang to life with its usual opening song. Harry and Ron rolled their eyes and both of them swore it was the same song as the year before. Hermione sat and listened diligently. Harry laughed to himself and bet that if she had a piece of parchment and a quill handy, she'd take notes on it. But that was Hermione, and that was why she was so special to him.  
After the song was done and the first years were sorted into their houses, Gryffindor had seven more students, Slytherin had four, Hufflepuff had eight and Ravenclaw had five. Harry took note of that, and realized that there was a definite drop in the number of first years since last year. Of course the siege in the school and the death of thirty-some students was definitely an incentive not to send a child to Hogwarts. But many parents did not understand that Hogwarts was the safest place for their children. Harry shook his head sadly. Hermione looked up at him, reached over and squeezed his hand.  
Dumbledore made his usual speech and added that no one would be allowed off Hogwart's ground without the accompaniment of an adult, and then introduced Harry and Hermione as the new Head boy and girl. They reluctantly stood up and Gryffindor clapped and hollered their support. Slytherin, on the other hand, remained silent, and a few turned to whisper to each other. Some glared intently at them, death threats written in their eyes.  
The feast finally began, much to Ron's joy, and they all forgot their serious problems for the time being and started to gobble down their food. The ghosts entered the hall and performed their usual festivities, with Peeves mercilessly teasing the first years.  
As desert was being finished, Dumbledore stood up once again and dismissed them all to their dorms. Hermione and Harry were scheduled to meet with Professor Dumbledore after the feast and then would be directed to their own rooms, as was customary at Hogwarts.  
When they arrived at the phoenix statue in front of his office, Harry and Hermione guessed twenty candy-names each before the password let them enter the office. The password, as Hermione found out, ended up being "Butter Toffee."  
When they entered, Dumbledore sat at his desk, watching the fire. He smiled again.  
"Ah, Mr. Potter and Ms. Granger. A pleasure to have you back. And as head students," he began. "I understand that you have already gone through your list of issuing responsibilities to the prefects. Well done." He commended them.  
"As it is late and you both have class in the morning, I shall not keep you from your much required sleep." He chuckled, rose from his seat and made his way out into the hallway outside his office. They walked back to the front doors of the school and past the library that Hermione lingered at for a few moments. Then walked up some stairs and turned down a hallway. At the end of it hung a portrait of a centaur.  
"Good evening, Professor Dumbledore," The centaur greeted.  
"Good evening, Fontinus, these are the two Head students, Mr. Potter and Ms. Granger." Dumbledore explained, motioning to him. "They will be creating their password with you." He turned to face Harry and Hermione. "You'll find your things already in your dormitories. Please make yourself comfortable." Dumbledore smiled again and looked at his watch. "If you'll excuse me, I have some rather, important engagements, shortly and must get to them." Harry and Hermione could only nod their heads, and Dumbledore turned and walked back down the hallway.  
For a moment, they stared at the retreating form of Dumbledore. He had acted, well, strange. And for Dumbledore, that was saying something. Yet they created their password, "Cornish Pixies," rather, Hermione created it, and they entered their common room. It was large and decorated in Gryffindor colors. The fire was roaring and there were two desks and a mug filled with quills. Harry grinned and walked down one of the two hallways and found a bedroom. It had all of his things in his open armoire, and his books already in place on his shelf. His uniform for the next day was laid out on a chair, and his bed looked very inviting.  
Harry walked back out to the common room and crossed to the other hallway, where Hermione's room was. He stood in the doorway as he watched her rearrange her books. He chuckled and she rolled her eyes.  
"Good night, Hermione." He yawned and turned around to go back to his room.  
"Night Harry, sweet dreams."  
But Harry's dreams that night were anything but sweet.

* * *

Author's Note: **Hey guys, its Dreamsweeper again, and I'm feeling much better now, with the exception of where Ducky hit me on the head, of course**.  
  
**Anyway, so far, nothing out of the ordinary has happened in this fanfic, but in the next chapter, I will be straying away from the traditional story line and introducing, well, another character. So stay with me here, and I'll do my best not to let you guys down. Hey, REVIEW, Please!  
**  
Ducky: _Aren't you forgetting something?  
_  
Dreamsweeper: **Yeah, yeah.** Mutters **Harry Potter isn't mine, wasn't mine, and unless the copyright goes up for sale, will never be mine. Anybody want a little sister? She's good at editing!**  
  
Ducky: Glares and whacks Dreamsweeper on the head again_ Mom told you not to try and sell me anymore!_  
  
Dreamsweeper: **Oww.** whines** Hey... it's called "capitalism." **


	3. Escape

**Authors Note: Kay, this is where I stray from the traditional storyline, so consider yourself warned. Also, this is where I did the majority of the revision (with the exception of combining the chapters). Thanks and read on!**

Saving Grace – Chapter 3 - Escape  
  
A girl with curly auburn hair ran down a trail. She hopped over stones and large branches that blocked her path while waving to the people she passed by. Although her parents told her numerous times to not make any kind of contact with anyone she didn't know she couldn't help it. Janie just enjoyed being friendly. It was an innate ability she'd had since she could remember. Goodness knew she didn't get it from her parents. They didn't talk to anyone, and they didn't let Janie talk to anyone either.  
"Ah well," Janie thought, "what they don't know won't hurt me."  
She ran as fast as she could, enjoying the wind blow against her face. The sun was setting and the summer was quickly fading into autumn. The cool California evening was setting in, and she looked at the horizon as the last rays of sunlight started to turn to purple. It was her last run before school started the next day, and she dreaded returning to her school, St. Cecilia's Academy for Young Women. While it wasn't a boarding school, it was a prep-school and perfection was demanded in every aspect of life. Grades, appearance, and etiquette all mattered, and Janie felt smothered.  
This was probably why she spent more time in the Headmistress' office and detention hall than anyone else she knew of. It wasn't that Janie was a bad person, in fact, she was very kind. She stood up for anyone wrongfully accused and often argued with the elite group at school, challenging their "I'm right because I'm rich" attitudes and constantly shifting paradigms.  
The fact that she ran the only successful gambling ring on campus didn't really hurt her image of being a good person. "It adds character." She often told her few friends. Of course, she used the term "friends" liberally. She felt it in her gut that her parents were going to move again soon. The McKenzie's were notorious for not living in a single place for too long. They had finally settled in the town of Eureka. The entire area was filled with beautiful redwood trees, sequoias, trees big enough to drive cars through. It was the one place that Janie actually considered home.  
"Three years and counting." Janie thought to herself as she approached their house at the end of the street. She knew her residence here couldn't last. And that was why she never bothered with very solid friendships. She loved being friendly, but it never went past that stage really.  
Janie stopped running and cooled down into a brisk walk. "Except for one person." She said and smiled to herself. Eric, her boyfriend, was always there, even when she had first moved there when she was thirteen. Janie had gotten lost in the wood behind her house and he found her.  
His first words to her were, "You must be the new girl." It had taken him many weeks to get Janie to speak with him, and when she finally did, Eric invited her to a picnic in the wood. Of course she couldn't go, as her parents didn't want her out of their sight, so Eric agreed to a picnic in her backyard. They had been together ever since.  
Janie smiled at the memory and continued to walk down her street.  
As she drew nearer to her house, she noticed something peculiar: a cat. While the cat didn't exactly appear abnormal, it was strange nonetheless. The thing was, was that Janie's father hated animals. It seemed all of the animals in the area knew it, because none ever came near their house. No bears, coyotes, and not even gophers, and their neighbor's yards were infested with those. Her father simply hated animals, and animals simply stayed away. Until that day in any case.  
Janie stopped in her tracks and addressed the cat. "Hey!" She called. The cat turned to look at her and its eyes widened in surprise. Yet it didn't run away. Janie was intrigued by this.  
"Cat, you'd better go before my parents see you." She warned. The cat regarded this comment by rolling its eyes and swished its tail.  
"Look," she said, approaching the cat and kneeling down, "You're probably new around here, so I'll go easy on you. My dad hates animals, especially cats, and it'd be a pity if he found out the many ways to skin a cat using a pretty one like yourself... so scat!"  
The cat tilted its head, as if considering what Janie had said and then stood and walked slowly away in the direction of Eric's house.  
Janie remained kneeling, baffled by the cat's reaction. She watched it disappear behind some bushes and Janie stood up, and walked down the path into her house.  
Janie looked up at the clock. It read 7:15. "Darn it," she thought, "late again. Let me see, fifteen minutes means two days restriction. Oh well." Restriction for Janie meant no television or radio. Television wasn't so bad, Janie never watched it anyway. All that was on was some show called Dawson's Creek, and MTV was too retarded, even for the masses. The radio, on the other hand, was Janie's life source. She lived for music, and deprivation from the radio was like a lack of oxygen. The only thing that held her over was Eric's CD player. Luckily, her parents didn't know about it yet.  
Janie stepped into the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge. She walked up the stairs and paused at the door of her father's study. Her father loved books. Sometimes it seemed like he loved books more than he loved Janie, or even her mom. Janie pushed that thought aside and entered the study.  
"Good evening, Jane." Her father, Ted McKenzie said firmly. "I don't suppose you know what time it is by chance, would you?" He asked, not lifting his eyes from his book.  
"I know I'm late and I'm really very sorry, but I wanted to get in as much running as possible," She explained as she fiddled with the pens on Ted's desk. "School starts tomorrow," she continued, "and I won't have as much time as before."  
"I understand, Jane," her father said, "but a girl your age should take precaution when outside and alone. When I ask you to be inside at a certain time, it is expected that you be there promptly. Not fifteen minutes late. Two days restriction. Go set the table for your mother."  
"Yes sir." She responded obediently. She had learned years ago that it was best to simply accept the punishment instead of arguing over it. Arguing usually meant the punishment would be extended.  
Later on, when the table was set and Janie's mom, Genevieve, Ted, and Janie sat at the table silently eating their supper. It was potato soup, again. Janie's mom habitually sank into cooking patterns, where she would make the same thing every other night for two weeks. Janie was starting to despise the taste of potato soup, but knew better than to complain. At least she was eating. Janie had gone to bed hungry numerous times for complaining about the food and it was nothing she wanted to make a habit of. Janie loved food almost as much as she loved music.  
The sounds of their silverware hitting their china reverberated through the dining room. Janie could hear the grandfather clock in the hallway tick and strike the new minutes. She looked at her mom, who was staring tightlipped into her bowl. Then she looked at her dad, who was reading their newspaper. Janie sighed and tried to think of something interesting to say. The cat might make for interesting conversation. Perhaps Janie would be rewarded for getting rid of it. Without any options, it seemed like the only thing worth talking about. So she did.  
"I, uh, saw a cat in the driveway today." Janie said, looking down at her bowl momentarily.  
"Oh?" Her mom asked.  
"Yeah," Janie continued, "It was pretty weird. It looked like it understood exactly what I was saying. And when I told it to leave, it left." The grandfather clock stopped ticking, her mother's spoon clattered into her bowl, and Janie looked up at her parents.  
Ted rose abruptly from his seat and drew something from his pocket. Genevieve looked at him. They nodded at each other and Genevieve stood. She looked directly at Janie and said, "Jane, go get a backpack and put whatever you need in it as quickly as you can. We're leaving."  
Janie sat in shock. What had just happened? One minute she was talking about a cat, and the next minute her parents were acting psycho. Had cloned freaks taken over their bodies?  
"Janie, go now." Ted ordered. His tone was so fierce that Janie jumped out of her seat and ran up the stairs.  
Ted and Genevieve looked at each other and said nothing. Genevieve reached out and grabbed Ted's hand. Ted grabbed it and kissed her hand, looked at her tenderly for a moment, and then went to the window in the front room and went about making adjustments to the security he had put in place when they had first moved in.  
Meanwhile, Janie was in a flurry in her room. She grabbed her backpack full of school supplies that sat ready by her door and dumped it out. Racing sheets and statistics flew everywhere. She looked around the room and tried to breathe calmly.  
"What do I take?" She thought. "What do I take?"  
She grabbed her picture of Eric and her at their first picnic. The necklace with a four-leaf clover that she'd had since before she could remember. Her favorite book, The Princess Bride, Eric's CD player. Janie stuffed a pair of underwear and socks in her backpack and went to reach for her pajamas when she heard a crash come from downstairs.  
Janie flew down the stairs as fast as she could and heard yelling coming from the kitchen. When she entered it, she saw her father standing with a stick pointed at an old lady Janie had never seen before. The old lady had a stick pointed at Ted and was wearing an out of fashion pointed hat. Genevieve was standing behind Ted, looking very confused and utterly stressed out.  
The old lady did not turn to acknowledge Janie's presence, but simply kept talking to Ted, keeping her stick trained on him.  
"You mustn't keep running, Theodore." The old lady spoke as if addressing a ten year old. "She deserves to know. They both do."  
Janie's dad lowered his stick and looked at his feet. Janie could only stand with her mouth open. "Dad?" she asked, breathing heavily still. What was the old bat talking about?  
Ted glared at McGonagall, "Don't call me that. Please." Then he turned and looked at Janie. "I'm not your father."  
Janie's heart stopped beating. She laughed nervously and looked at her mom. "Mom?" she asked, begging for some kind of sense.  
Genevieve looked at her, shrugged, and shook her head. "That's not me either, dear. Sorry about this. But we're not really your parents."  
Janie gasped for air. It seemed the walls were closing in on her. "Not my parents?" She thought; her brain spinning. Janie backed out of the kitchen slowly. She had entered the Twilight Zone, she knew it, and she was going to wake up, it would be morning, and she would go to school, and make a whole lot of money on the upcoming world-series.  
She kept backing up and she heard her dad- no, the man she thought was her dad say, "We'll leave right now. As long as the Deatheaters don't know about us, we'll be fine."  
"They already know." Janie heard from behind her. She turned around and almost screamed. A middle-aged man with haggard looking clothes was standing less than four inches behind her. He looked directly into Janie's eyes and she saw anger, grief, and worry. The man broke eye contact and looked into the kitchen. "Minerva, they're here. A lot of them. They're coming from the front." Janie could see shadows moving on the front room walls. People were in her front yard. Her parents were not her parents. The room started spinning.  
Ted looked at McGonagall and said, "They're going to kill her. You have to take her. We'll stall them for as long as we can."  
McGonagall nodded solemnly. She looked over at the man standing by Janie, "Remus." the old lady said.  
Without waiting for an order, Remus, or whatever his name was, grabbed Janie's arm and started pulling her towards the back of her home. Janie, who was still in a great deal of shock, allowed herself to be pulled for about three feet before turning back to her parents and sobbing, "Mom? Dad? Why?" A lump was forming in the back of her throat and Janie couldn't talk anymore.  
Ted looked at Janie. He had no words left to say. Genevieve took a wand out of her pocket, and Ted hugged his wife one last time before going to their deaths.  
Janie continued along her path with the two people whom she had never met before. As the old lady, McGonagall, opened the McKenzie's back door the front door exploded and Janie screamed, or at least tried to.  
Janie watched as her parents jumped apart and rolled out of the line of fire. Then Remus pulled her out the backdoor, into the shadow of night. When Janie's brain finally caught up with her, she was running into the woods with Remus. The old lady had disappeared, but that damn cat was there again. Janie's ears rang with adrenaline. Her shoulders shook as she struggled for breathe and sobbed involuntarily at the same time. Her vision became cloudy. The cat stopped, and so did Remus. Janie gasped for air and her vision adjusted to the night sky.  
Remus put his finger up to his lips and took what looked to Janie like a silver blanket out of his small rucksack. The cat jumped onto Remus' shoulder and Remus wrapped the silver thing around the three of them. Janie tried to quiet her breathing. Twigs nearby snapped and she could hear the sound of footsteps all around them. Janie chewed on her nails. There were people running all through hers and Eric's woods. Remus tensed and Janie could hear people shouting. The cat jumped off of Remus' shoulder and crept slowly along the floor of the woods, seeming to stalk anything that moved. It swished its tail twice and Remus removed the cloak from himself and Janie. Once again he pulled her hand and they began running into the darkness.  
They had been running for what seemed like ten minutes when a twig snapped and Remus threw Janie to the ground and took out his wand. He quickly said, "Expelliarmus" and a yellow light shot out of his wand and hit someone by a tree a few meters away. The person flew back against the tree and rolled onto the ground. "Stupefy," Remus muttered quickly after, and the person, whoever it was, didn't move anymore.  
Janie stared at the person's prone body as Remus grabbed her hand and pulled her up. Janie snatched her hand away and her eyes grew wide. She looked at the masked person and gasped. "Is he dead?" She asked Remus shrilly. "Did you kill him?"   
"No." He replied, holding up his hand in an attempt to calm her down, "Merely stupefied. It'll wear off within a few minutes. We must go."  
He reached down and offered her hand. Janie shrank away from it, as if repulsed. Remus could have slapped himself. The child was terrified of him, and she shook as she stood. She even looked like she was getting ready to run away. And she tried. However Remus grabbed her arm before she was able to break away, and he held on tight. Janie tried to wrench away from him and struggled hard. Her vision grew cloudy and the moonlight faded away and Janie's her vision blackened. She started to fall back to the ground when she felt something catch her, and then she felt she was being carried. She fought to regain her vision. When she opened her eyes, she gasped, for she saw a close up of Remus' face. It was scarred with scratches and what looked like lacerations.   
Remus looked down at her and whispered, "Can you run?"  
Wordlessly, Janie nodded, understanding that they were falling behind and that was indeed a very bad thing. He set her back upon her feet and then turned to start running again, never letting go of her arm.   
"Quickly." He ordered.   
And Janie ran faster than she had run before, and knew that if she slowed, she would certainly end up dead.  
Twenty minutes later, they finally stopped running. They had entered a large field and were walking quickly to the center of it. Janie could no longer see the cat that was leading them, but she heard the breaking of the grass below the cat's feet. They had almost reached the middle of the field when Janie finally found her voice again. She stopped dead in her tracks.  
"Time out." She said, and then fell on her hands and knees and retched into the dirt. When there was nothing left in her, she looked up with watery eyes and wiped her mouth. Remus looked at her, concerned. "Are you alright?" he asked. Janie noticed he had an extremely English accent. She'd been so busy finding out her parents were frauds that she didn't even think about it before.  
"What the hell is going on?" She asked weakly.  
"I'm afraid we haven't time to explain." Remus said.  
"Who is 'we'?" She persisted.  
The cat who had been leading them walked in front of Janie and stretched out. The cat became taller and its front paws became hands and back legs became shrouded by a dark green skirt. Janie's mouth hung wide open.  
"We," McGonagall said sternly, "are Professors McGonagall and Remus Lupin. Please don't ask any more questions for a few moments."  
Janie's mouth still hung open as she fumbled back onto her feet. The lady was the cat, or the cat was the lady. Which ever it was, Janie was in shock.  
Remus held a toothbrush out to Janie, and she looked at it skeptically.  
"Grab onto it." He said. Janie reluctantly touched to bottom tip of the toothbrush and McGonagall touched the mid-point of it. They stood there for a few seconds, and Janie sighed skeptically and said, "Well, this has been intriguing, but I really must be -"  
Before Janie had realized it, a tingling sensation started in her stomach and she felt herself being pulled toward the toothbrush. She opened her eyes a few moments later. "-getting home." She finished. Janie found herself looking up at the stars on her back. She sat up and looked around. McGonagall and Remus were still standing and Remus was walking towards her to give her a hand up. She stood up without his help.  
They were no longer in a field, but in a parking lot in front of a shut down Denny's Restaurant. It looked as if it had been deserted for years. Remus and Professor McGonagall walked directly towards it. Before reaching the door, McGonagall turned around and gently said, "Whatever you do, dear, don't say anything to anyone." Remus opened the door for McGonagall and whispered to Janie, "Just try to look like you belong." Janie nodded and entered into the abandoned building, waiting for the last piece of her life to fall out of place: her sanity.  
As she walked through the door of the old Denny's, the smell of burning wood tickled her nose and she sneezed. Professor McGonagall and Remus whipped around with their wands drawn, and Janie chuckled nervously and looked down, quietly muttering "Sorry."  
They turned around and kept walking. Janie saw a few people sitting around a table. They stopped talking and turned around to stare at the three of them. Janie smiled out of habit and waved slightly. One of them, a tough looking biker with tattoos up his arms glared intently at her and then smiled back suddenly, raising his glass towards her. Then the entire table resumed talking, as if nothing had happened. Janie almost laughed, but found herself short of breath due to the running and smoke that assaulted her lungs.  
She kept close behind Remus and looked around in wonder. The interior of the Denny's looked nothing like a traditional Denny's did. The walls were painted black, as well as the windows, and a huge fireplace in one of the walls. The oddest thing that Janie saw, however, was a broom that was sweeping the floor by itself. It seemed to be dancing with a small dustpan accompanying it. She stared at it for a good minute in bewilderment before Remus nudged her and motioned for her to sit down at a table with him.  
She plopped down in her seat across from Remus and stared at the wooden table. Her eyes wandered listlessly across it and came to rest on Remus' eyes. He was sitting back in his seat with one arm across his chest and his other hand covering his mouth. He seemed to be looking very closely at Janie, scrutinizing her every characteristic.  
"Erm..." Janie started, trying to think of something to say. "Sorry I passed out on you back there. That doesn't usually happen." Remus snapped out of his reverie and nodded, still distracted.  
Professor McGonagall reappeared from out of what Janie supposed was the kitchen door. She quickly walked over to the table and Remus stood up and pulled out a chair for her to sit in. "Thank you, Remus. Now," she said, speaking directly to Janie, "I know you have questions."  
"Damn right I do." Janie interjected.  
"However," McGonagall continued as if Janie had said nothing, "we cannot speak openly here. We must make one more trip to a secure location."  
Janie sat straight-up in her seat in protestation. "Wait just one gosh damn minute here." Remus motioned for her to quiet down, and she lowered her voice to a loud whisper. "I am not going anywhere with anyone until I get some freaking answers!"  
"We will give you answers, but not yet, now we must go." Professor McGonagall said, getting up and moving to grasp Janie's arm.  
Janie moved away from her and growled, "You touch me and I scream rape."  
Remus' jaw dropped and Professor McGonagall clenched her jaw. Grudgingly, she sat back down. "We will give you a few answers. You leave us no choice."  
Janie continued in a whisper. "Indulge me. Who are you? And I mean more than just names. Who sent you, and why me? And who were those people we were running from? And," Janie's voice cracked, "who are my real parents."  
Remus glanced at Minerva before he spoke, very quietly. "We were sent by a man named Albus Dumbledore. He is the headmaster of a school named Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Have you heard of it?"  
Janie nodded and said, "Why yes, of course I have. I just read about it in my catalog of the top ten schools for sorcery and the occult."  
"Really?" Remus asked, intrigued.  
"No." Janie deadpanned. "My parents, I mean, the McKenzie's, or whoever they were left a lot out about everything, apparently."  
"Well," Remus continued, "He sent us to rescue you from what would have been your death. The people we were running from and consequently dueling are known as, ahem," Remus lowered his voice considerably, "Deatheaters. And they want to kill you because of who you're related to."  
Janie sat with her eyes wide, just waiting for him to say "just kidding" or something like that. "And who is it that I am actually related to?" She asked, hoping she'd get an actual answer.  
"We've answered enough questions for right now, dear." McGonagall said, standing up once more. Janie crossed her arms and shook her head in frustration. "I'm afraid we must be going." McGonagall continued, "We cannot linger for very long." Remus nodded in agreement and then stood up himself.  
Janie still sat and looked at the table again. "If I can't trust the people that are in this restaurant, or whatever it is, and I can't trust my par- I mean, the McKenzie's, or whoever they are, and I can't trust whoever was trying to kill me," She looked at both of them. "Why should I trust you?"  
Remus knelt down beside her seat in a fatherly manner. "Because you must. And I promise you will get more answers when we get to where we're going." Janie considered this. Slowly, she asked "What are the odds of me living if I stay here?" She asked.  
Remus answered, "Zero to five percent."  
She considered this, ringing her hands. Then she asked, "And what are the odds of me living if I go with you?"  
Remus answered once more, "Eighty to ninety percent.  
Janie sat for a moment and chewed on one of her nails. It was a new habit she had acquired within the last hour. She stood. "I like those odds better."  
McGonagall smiled at the exchange, and than said, "There's a fireplace we can use in the kitchen. We have to be fast."  
She turned and started to walk to the kitchen. Janie looked at Remus confused. "We're using a fireplace in a kitchen? I thought we were leaving."  
"We are." Remus said, "But we are leaving via the fireplace. It's a way that wizards and witches get around. I'll explain more in a bit. Just do as we say."  
Janie nodded, frustrated. She was getting more of those answers lately; cryptic and unhelpful.  
McGonagall stepped up to the medium sized fireplace and said, "Make it fast." Remus nodded and McGonagall stepped into the fireplace. Janie's eyes widened as she saw that the flames did not singe her robes or hurt the old lady at all.  
McGonagall called out, "Bob's Bakery!" and threw a pile of dust onto the fire, then was gone. If Janie had been chewing gum, she would have swallowed it then, or perhaps choked on it. Fortunately, she was not chewing gum, and instead only dropped her jaw. She looked over at Remus.  
"You have got to be kidding me." She said.  
"Nope, now go on. Just do what she did." Remus said, pointing to the fireplace.  
Janie took a deep breath and stepped into the fireplace. Her tennis shoes felt warm, but the fire didn't hurt or burn her. She grabbed a handful of dust from the dish McGonagall had, and looked at Remus again. He nodded, and said, "Just say it clearly. 'Bob's Bakery'."  
Janie looked down at the flames and said uncertainly, "Bob's Bakery." She threw the powder down and before she closed her eyes, was spinning in circles and growing incredibly dizzy. She could see dark spots in the corners of her eyes and they grew larger as she kept spinning. Soon all Janie could see was darkness and she knew nothing else.


	4. Explanations

DreamSweeper: **Hey Ducky, can I stop writing these stupid disclaimers yet?  
**Ducky: _I don't know. Do you have approximately $300,000?_  
DreamSweeper: **HA! I hardly have $300. Why do you ask?**  
Ducky: _Because I think that's the going rate for plagiarism._  
DreamSweeper: **...er... really?**  
Ducky: _Actually, I have no idea. But I'm guessing for something as popular as the Harry Potter series, a litigation procedure has gotta be somewhere around that price range._  
DreamSweeper: **Okay then! After weighing the different outcomes of claiming Harry Potter as mine, I've decided that J.K. Rowling owns all of the Harry Potter universe, with the exception of Eric, Janie, and the McKenzie's. They're mine. And J.K. Rowling can't have them (unless of course she pays a generous amount of money to the "DreamSweeper Needs a New Car fund").**  
Ducky: _Well done._  
DreamSweeper: **How old are you again?**  
Ducky: _Fourteen._  
DreamSweeper: **Hmmm... how much do child geniuses sell for on e-bay?**  
Ducky: _I'm telling mom you're trying to sell me, yet again!_ Smacks DreamSweeper on the head. Again.  
DreamSweeper: **Fine, fine!** Rubs her already bruised head **On with the story!  
**  
Saving Grace - Chapter Four - Explanations  
  
Janie was falling into a dark abyss. She knew she should have been scared, but the darkness was comforting. It was silent, peaceful.  
"Maybe I've died." Janie thought to herself. "Wouldn't be half bad, I suppose. At least I'd finally be able to find some freaking answers." With that, Janie settled into the darkness and waited for a bright light to surround her. It didn't come.  
Instead, a loud and obnoxious bang sounded in her ears, like a gunshot. She felt herself being thrown onto something hard and cold, and when she opened her eyes, she was blinded by a dim light.  
"Ugh," she groaned, "If this is heaven, it sucks."  
"You aren't dead, and no, this isn't heaven." She heard McGonagall say. A hand helped her stand up off the dirty floor. "Far from it, actually. We are in 'Bob's Bakery' in Ashland."  
"Where the hell is Ashland?" Janie said, rubbing her eyes, desperate for them to readjust to the light in the bakery, or whatever it was. She found Professor McGonagall holding her wand with a bright light being emitted from the tip of it.  
"I would appreciate it if you would refrain from cursing, young lady." McGonagall stated, looking at her very sternly. "Furthermore, Ashland is a city in Maine, which you undoubtedly know is the most eastern state in the United States."  
"Yes, actually, I passed eighth grade geography, thank-you." Janie replied sarcastically.  
"I would also greatly appreciate if you would stop these snide remarks. They neither help nor amuse us." McGonagall reprimanded her. Janie stared at McGonagall's robes in frustration.  
"Speaking of 'us'" Janie said, changing the subject. "Where's Mr. Remus?"  
"He will be along shortly." McGonagall explained. "He is making sure that we cannot be followed."  
"How?"  
"By making the fireplace unusable."  
"Oh." Janie was silent for a moment. "By doing what?"  
"Must you ask so many questions?" McGonagall asked, rubbing her temples.  
"Must you avoid answering them?" Janie shot back.  
"I have already told you once before. We can tell you when we are somewhere more secure."  
"And I've already told you that I do not want to go anywhere with you people." Janie said, raising her voice. "I want to go home. Now!"  
Another loud bang came from the fireplace, breaking the tension. Remus jumped from the fireplace as quickly as he appeared and shook the soot off of himself. Janie self-consciously looked down at herself and found that she too was covered in ashes. She quickly went to work at dusting herself off. Soon a small cloud of soot formed around her as Janie tried to beat the ash from her clothes and hair, which caused her to cough and her eyes to water.  
McGonagall looked at her and smiled. Not big enough for anyone to notice, but she smiled all the same. She took out her wand and pointed it at Janie. Janie froze.  
"They're going to kill me. They kidnapped me to Maine and now they're going to kill me." Janie thought. She closed her eyes and waited for the end.  
"Scourgify." She heard McGonagall say. It felt like a small breeze blew around her for a split second and then was gone. She opened an eye and noticed that Remus and McGonagall were standing there. Remus had an amused look on his face and Janie looked down. She was clean. Janie let out a breath she didn't know she had been holding and laughed nervously.  
"Thanks." She whispered, feeling somewhat foolish.  
"I heard them coming into the pub before I came through and made sure that I would be the last one coming through the fireplace. If they try to follow us still, they may be hopping around the states for quite a while." Remus said as McGonagall started to walk to the front of the apparently abandoned bakery.  
"All the same, we must keep moving." She said, stepping over knocked over bread stands and through the dilapidated swinging doors that led to the store front.  
"Now where are you taking me that I don't want to go?" Janie said, looking around. Spider webs covered most of the ceiling. Gigantic wolf spiders crawled up and down the walls, making Janie shudder. She hurried to the front of the store with Remus and McGonagall.  
"We are taking you somewhere safe." Remus said, unlocking the door that led outside. He readied his wand and gingerly stepped outside, looking left and right and then scanning the street before motioning to Professor McGonagall and Janie to follow. The group quickly made their way down the street to a small alley. Along the way they passed a small bank with a digital clock on the side of the building. The time read 12:04 am. That meant that it was just past 9:00 back home in California. Janie remembered the grandfather clock had just chimed 8:00 when her family started dinner. It had only been an hour since her life had fallen to pieces. In the span of an hour, Janie had learned that her parents were in fact not her parents, and that magic indeed existed, which her parents had always adamantly denied.  
Remus changed his course by turning into the alley, snapping Janie away from her thoughts. He led them to the very back of the dark alley and paused before a metal door before banging on it loudly four times. After a few seconds, he banged on the door two times, and then a few seconds later, four times again.  
"Maybe no one's home." Janie muttered, looking at disgust at the wet newspapers that were littered on the sides of the surrounding buildings. A loud snap caused her to jump in fright and she looked towards the door. A small peephole had opened and she saw an eye glaring through it.  
"Who is it?" The person growled.  
"The Chudley-Cannons." Remus answered.  
"Password." The person demanded.  
"Hippogriff." McGonagall whispered. The eye looked at her and then directly at Janie. With a creak the door opened and a middle aged man ushered them quickly inside.  
"We weren't expecting you back so soon." The man said. "Lydia, their back!" he shouted to an unseen person.  
"Sorry to disappoint you Jack, but we ran into some trouble and had to come back early." Remus said, smiling. Janie looked around the room nervously. A small couch sat in the middle of the room with a small fireplace in the corner. The television was turned on, with the news blaring out of it. On the right side of the room was a small kitchenette with a tiny counter. In another corner was a bed with an absurd amount of blankets on top of it. A pretty woman came out of a room that Janie supposed to be the bathroom and smiled.  
"Hello Minerva. Are you staying long this time? Would you like any tea?" Lydia asked McGonagall.  
"We would love to stay and have some tea, Mrs. Johnson, however we must be going again. We cannot afford to be intercepted with our present company." McGonagall explained, motioning to Janie.  
Jack looked at Janie, as if realizing for the first time that she was in the room. "So, this is her then?" He asked, making Janie uncomfortable.  
"Jack!" Lydia chided, "Be polite and ask her yourself, at least." She looked at Janie. "Sorry dear, he doesn't get out much."  
Janie tried to smile, but didn't accomplish a whole one. "Thanks." She whispered.  
"So you're the missing Potter baby, are you?" Jack asked her, clearly intrigued. Behind him, Janie could see Lydia shaking her head and covering her face with her hand.  
Baffled, Janie shrugged. "I don't know who I am anymore." She said, her voice cracking under the emotional strain.  
"We haven't yet explained much to her yet." Remus interjected. "We want to leave most of that to Professor Dumbledore."  
"And we really should be going." McGonagall said, walking to the fireplace. "Remus, please let Albus know we're coming."  
Remus walked to the fireplace and stuck his head in the fireplace and called, "Albus Dumbledore, Hogwart's School of Witchcraft and Wizardry!"

Albus Dumbledore sat at his desk in his office, listening to the soothing sound of Fawkes' melody. It was a rarity, these days, when he could sit at his desk and be content. So many trials and tribulations had fallen upon them that he was actually starting to feel his age. Of course he didn't let that get him incredibly depressed. Not every wizard could boast about being one hundred and seventy two years old. After living that long, one became accustom to dealing with evil and maniacal people. Tom Riddle was no different than the others, simply more organized and better at hiding.  
The night was fading, and he stood up. He was waiting for something important. He'd been waiting since the evening before for word of the mission he'd sent two of his best professors on to retrieve something, or rather someone of great value. Time was becoming a luxury that the mission could not afford, yet there was nothing Dumbledore could do but wait.  
"Albus? Albus!" He heard coming from his fireplace. He hurried over to the fireplace to see Professor Lupin's head surrounded by flames. "Ah, Remus. It is very good to hear from you. Things are going well, I hope."  
"We have who we came for Albus, and she is frightened beyond reason. I suggest we not waste anymore time and simply floo her over now."  
"I understand. How able is she to travel by floo network?" Dumbledore asked, sitting in a cushion chair in front of the fireplace.  
"She's, er, getting used to it." Remus admitted.  
"I do not think that using the floo is necessarily the best thing for us to do with the young Ms. Potter, Remus. As it is, I dislike using it myself." His eyes twinkled. "Is it possible to set up a portkey at your location?" He asked.  
"It is."  
"Then by all means, let me not keep you any longer."  
"Yes sir. We'll be right with you." Remus spoke, and then disappeared from the fireplace.  
Several minutes later, Professor McGonagall, Remus Lupin, and a disheveled young woman with auburn hair appeared in the middle of Dumbledore's office.  
"Ms. Potter," Dumbledore spoke, "Welcome to Hogwarts."  
Janie looked at the old man in the long robes and stared. When she noticed that he was looking at her with an amused expression, she nodded in response, slowly.  
"Jamie, this is Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwart's School of Witchcraft and Wizardry." McGonagall said, introducing them both.  
"My name is Janie. McKenzie." Janie corrected, as she stuck her hand out to shake hands with Professor Dumbledore.  
"Of course, Ms. McKenzie." Dumbledore said, accepting her hand. "Won't you please have a seat? I'm sure you have many questions."  
Janie sat in one of the cushioned chairs between Professor McGonagall and Remus and nodded. Now that she had her chance to ask questions and finally receive answers, her mind was drawing blank. She looked at one of the windows and saw the sunlight growing from beyond the horizon. It was almost morning here, wherever they were, and Janie should have been going to sleep around now, if she were home.  
"Ms. McKenzie?" Professor Dumbledore asked, prompting a startled jump from Janie.  
"Umm, I guess my first question would be, well," Janie attempted, "Who are my real parents, if the McKenzie's weren't really my parents?"  
"That is an excellent place to start." Dumbledore said, sitting in his own chair behind his desk. He lifted up his dish of lemon drops in an offertory motion. Janie shook her head and whispered "No thanks."  
"The people you were raised by were the McKenzie's, or rather, as they were originally called, the McZinnie's. They changed their name when they moved to the states almost sixteen years ago. When they left England, they took a few things; one of which did not belong to them." Dumbledore looked up at Janie. "You did not belong to them, yet they took you to the States despite that fact."  
"Then who exactly did I belong to?" Janie said, becoming increasingly frustrated.  
"Your real parents were James and Lily Potter, of Goddrick's Hollow."  
"Were?" She asked, confused.  
"James and Lily died almost sixteen years ago."  
"So my biological parents are dead?" She asked in disbelief.  
"I am sorry, but yes. They died at the hands of a murderer, Tom Riddle. He is known throughout the wizarding world as Lord Voldemort."  
"Why did he kill them?"  
"He killed them because they stood in his way from killing your brother."  
"Lord Voldemort, or Tom Riddle, or wh-whoever," Janie stuttered, "killed my brother as well?"  
"Fortunately no. Your brother Harry is alive and well. He is actually Headboy at this school, and you may meet him, if you like."  
"Professor," Janie said, confused. "Let me get this straight. I am suppose to believe that some murderer wanted to kill my brother but killed my parents instead. Why didn't he kill me as well? And why are you people just now showing up? Why did you not show up ten years ago, or even before that? Why didn't you come and get me when you found out my parents were dead?" Janie seemed to be overflowing with questions now, and the rising sun was sending warmth into the room, giving Janie strength.  
"Let me answer those questions as best I can." Dumbledore began. "When Tom entered your home on Halloween, he was not alone. He brought with him one of his most trusted followers, Theodore McZinnie. Tom never was fond of committing atrocities without help. Now, we are not clear on exactly how it happened, as there were no other witnesses, but we do know that Theodore was searching the house when he found you. Instead of killing you, as he was ordered to, he took you from your crib and ran away. That is how Theodore and Genevieve came to be your fraudulent parents."  
Janie stared at the desk in shock. It couldn't be true, this entire thing was bull. There wasn't any way in hell that all that was true. "Then why didn't you guys follow him and take me back?" Janie asked quietly.  
"We couldn't have been sure you even existed until recently. For many years, many of us assumed that Lily had been pregnant when she was murdered. It was only a few days ago that a spy in Tom's circle discovered plans for your kidnap and murder that we learned of your existence. There had always been rumors of a missing Potter baby, and it seems that it was true."  
"You thought she was still pregnant? Wouldn't you have a way to tell?" Janie continued with her barrage of questions.  
"The specific curse that was used on Lily is used to destroy or erase life. When it is used against a pregnant woman, the baby dies instantaneously, as does the mother. Sometimes, in rare cases, pregnant women who are hit with this curse lose the baby altogether. It may appear as if there was no baby at all."  
"But wouldn't there be a birth certificate of any kind? A doctor saying that I was alive? Did anyone even check?" Janie asked again, wondering if her life had simply been ignored altogether.  
"The Potter's were in hiding when you were born, Ms. McKenzie. By using magic, they had little need for any doctors. Your mother and father were very competent in taking care of themselves, and that included delivering newborn babies."  
When Albus had finished his last sentence, Janie stared at the floor. They believed she had been erased from existence. And now she was suffering from something her par-, the McKenz- wait, the McZinnie's had done almost sixteen years ago.  
Janie looked up at Professor Dumbledore with tears in her eyes. "Why didn't they tell me?" she asked, pleading for an answer.  
"I'm afraid I haven't an answer for that particular question. Perhaps they learned that Tom Riddle had fallen, Theodore and his wife realized they would need to escape. In order to escape without being recognized by wizarding authority, they may have used you to help disguise them. The authorities would have been looking for two people. Not two people and a child.  
"Or perhaps they simply did not want an ill fate to fall upon you, as they may have realized that with the last name of Potter, you would undoubtedly face many hardships." Dumbledore was quiet then, and Janie sat in quiet consideration of what he had told her.  
"Okay," Janie started straightening up in her chair, "You want me to believe that the people who have raised me since I was, what, a month old? They have lied to me about my real parents, and possibly aided in their murder. In addition, they kidnapped me to a foreign country to cover their own as- ahem, uh, butts, and neglected to tell me about my real family, and the fact that some of my family is still alive? How can you expect someone to believe something that farfetched?" By the time Janie had finished, she was breathing heavily.  
"We know this may be hard to accept Janie," Remus interjected, "but you did hear from the McZinnie's own mouths that they were not your parents."  
"Okay, I'll give you that one," Janie conceded indignantly, "but how do you even know that I am a Potter? Nobody has even seen a picture of Lily and James' daughter. How do you know I'm the one you're looking for?"  
"We have learned," McGonagall spoke up, "from our inside sources, that the McZinnie's indeed kidnapped a two-week-old infant named Jamie Potter. Before you came downstairs in your home earlier this evening, Theodore, himself, admitted this to me."  
Dumbledore looked sadly at Janie, saying gently, "You are the young lady we have been searching for. You are the right age, and you have all of the physical characteristics of who we were looking for. You are the child who was lost, and now, who has been found."  
Janie sniffed, and a single tear rolled down her cheek. She wiped it away hastily, and bit her lip. She wouldn't cry. Life sucked, and there was nothing anyone could do about it. Genevieve had taught her early on that crying wouldn't solve anyone's problems. Crying would only accomplish dehydration and getting a headache. Janie refused to cry.  
Dumbledore could see the confusion within Janie's eyes, and he stood from his chair. "I believe that Madame Pompfrey needed to see us Minerva. Remus, could you please?" He asked.  
"Yes, of course, Albus." Remus answered. With that, McGonagall and Dumbledore exited the office. Once outside, Minerva glanced at Albus and spoke, "She does look like Lily, doesn't she?" It wasn't really a question, but a statement.  
"Yes, she looks startlingly like her mother." He agreed. "However, I fear that may make it a bit more difficult to hide her."  
McGonagall nodded her agreement, and the two continued walking down the hallway to the infirmary.Inside Dumbledore's office, Remus remained sitting in his cushion chair. Janie sat as well, keeping her eyes on the pieces of parchment on top of Dumbledore's desk. Fawkes sang a quiet note, and Janie looked up. She gasped as she saw the phoenix for the first time. Remus smiled, and cleared his throat.  
"You look like your mother." He said finally.  
Janie looked up in shock and then quickly back down at the desk. Another tear rolled down her cheek. Again, she hastily wiped it away.  
"Oh God, I'm sorry." Remus muttered, realizing his error. Janie didn't even know who her parents were anymore.  
Janie wiped the tear away. "Its okay," she said, trying to smile. "That's actually the first time in my life that anybody's ever told me that."  
Remus smiled again, sadly though.  
"You think that could have been a clue, you know? No one ever said I looked like my par- I mean, the McZinnie's. All of my 'friends'," Janie used finger quotes, "looked remarkably like their parents, and I never really thought about it. God, I feel like such a bonehead!" She exclaimed, rubbing her forehead.  
"Janie, you couldn't have known that they weren't your real parents. How many kids your age actually have to wonder about something like that?" Remus asked, trying to calm her down.  
Janie looked at him and considered this for about two seconds. "Surprisingly, most of the kids my age swear they're adopted, or wish they were."  
"What?" Remus asked, confused.  
"Sorry, my failed attempt at humor." Janie explained, somewhat embarrassed.  
"Oh." Remus nodded. An uncomfortable silence slipped between them.  
"So, you knew my real parents?" Janie asked, trying to slice through the awkwardness.  
"Yes, actually. I knew your parents quite well." Remus explained. "Your father, well, that is, James and I were very close during our days at school here. We were best mates, and when he married your mother, Lily, we stayed in touch with each other, until they, er, passed away, of course."  
Janie nodded and rubbed her eyes. "So, does my brother know about me yet?"  
Remus shook his head. "As far as I know, Harry only believes that your mother may only have been pregnant when she died."  
"So he doesn't know I'm still alive?"  
"I'm afraid not. Minerva, myself, or Professor Dumbledore will tell him."  
"So why am I here at this school, and speaking of which, where is this school anyway?"  
"You are here because Hogwarts is the one of the safest places in the wizarding world." Before Janie could ask why, Remus continued, "Voldemort is afraid of only a few people. One of whom is Albus Dumbledore."  
"Who're the other people?" Janie asked.  
"One of them is your brother." Remus answered quickly, "Anyhow, we are in Northern England, very close to Scotland." Janie's jaw dropped.  
"We traveled over three thousand miles in five seconds?" She asked, incredulously.  
"Actually, I believe it was more like fifteen seconds. Things in the wizarding world are done a bit differently than the muggle world."  
"Oh." Janie said nodding. After a silent moment, she asked, "What's muggle mean?"  
Remus rubbed his temple in the same manner McGonagall had done two hours ago. "We're going to have to start at the top with you, aren't we?"  
Janie shrugged sheepishly, "Well if it's any consolation, I didn't exactly sign up for any of this."  
Remus shook his head and grimaced, "We've got a lot to cover."  
"I guess now would be a good time to tell you that I'm a fast learner."  
"That," Remus said, "is good to know."

* * *

Okay, another chapter down. Again, I apologize about the lack of updates, and I simply beg your understanding, due to the fact that it is indeed summer, and I have two jobs, one family, and a whole bunch of religious obligations and projects. So, with that in mind, please be patient. Ya'll rock so far. Thanks to **PrincessCarrie**, **DancinBlondeGurl**, and **Disneydoll0424**. You guys are so nice! Thanks for the encouragement!  
  
Oh, and **Angel of Slytherin**, I'm hoping you'll let me know if Janie turns out to be too irritatingly perfect, although I'm hoping she's realistic enough to not be. But just let me know anyway. Thanks to all, and I'll have Ducky make you all cookies! Review!!!  
  
Ducky: _That wasn't in the_ _contract!_  
  
Dreamsweeper: **Deal with it!**


	5. Introductions

**Disclaimer: I'm getting tired of coming up with creative ways to announce that Harry Potter is not mine. So here it is for the last time, and anyone who wants to see my disclaimer, henceforth, may refer back to this chapter.**  
  
Saving Grace – Introductions  
  
An hour after Professor Dumbledore and McGonagall had retreated to the infirmary, they returned, speaking in hushed tones. Upon entering Professor Dumbledore's office, they found Remus sitting upright in one of the cushioned chairs with an amused expression on his face. Janie, who was sitting across from him, was staring up at the ceiling looking at the pictures of the past headmasters of Hogwarts.  
McGonagall looked to Remus for an explanation, but instead, had her unspoken question answered by Janie.  
"You're pictures move." She said simply, eyes wide with wonder.  
"Yes, and we speak too." Phineas Nigellus snapped irritably, startling Janie out of her tired stupor.  
Janie looked around the room and found all three of her caretakers looking at her with amused grins. She smiled sheepishly and yawned.  
"Ms. McKenzie, I assume that you have had a long and perilous night and that you must be truly exhausted. Am I correct?" Dumbledore asked.  
Janie nodded.  
"Professor McGonagall and I have arranged for you to have your own temporary dormitory in the school's infirmary. If you'll please accompany Professor McGonagall, Madame Pompfrey will be happy to assist you."  
Janie shook her head. "I'm not really tired. I think I could stay awake until I go home, or until I go back to the United States. How long am I going to be here anyway?" She asked, yawning in between words.  
"That, I'm afraid, I cannot answer. But I must be honest and tell you immediately, that you may not be going home for quite a while." Dumbledore answered sadly.  
"You mean you're going to keep me here?" She asked with disbelief written on her face.  
"Only for a time," Remus interjected, "and we will do our best to get you home as soon as possible."  
Janie shook her head. "I don't want to stay here. What about my school, and where will I live? What about Eric? Will someone tell him where I am? And..."  
Dumbledore raised his hand and gently hushed her.  
"We will talk about that more after you get some rest."  
Janie looked down at her lap and she yawned again, against her will. She didn't want to sleep, not here, and not after everything she had seen.  
"Sir, can I ask just one more question?" Janie asked, still looking at her lap.  
"Certainly."  
"What'll happen to my par- I mean, the McZinnie's?"  
"Ms. McKenzie, I'm afraid that we have no word on the whereabouts of the McZinnie's, but we will inform you as soon as we know more."  
"Oh." She said. "Do you think they're dead?"  
"In all honesty, they may be. I am sorry."  
Janie swallowed hard and stood. "Which way to the infirmary?"  
"I'll lead you there." McGonagall spoke.  
"On your way back, Minerva, would you please ask Mr. Potter to join us?"  
McGonagall nodded in response and then quickly ushered Janie out the door and down the stairs.  
Remus looked at Professor Dumbledore and shook his head. Janie still didn't understand why she was here, and she was still very afraid. Remus could sense it. She put up a good front. Just like James.  
As if Dumbledore was reading his mind, he broke in, "She acts like her father."  
"And looks like her mother." Remus finished.  
"I fear she'll be hearing that often in the near future."

* * *

Harry was heading out of the Head Boy and Girl's Common room on his way to the Great Hall. He felt weary and exhausted, for he hadn't gotten very much sleep during the night. His scar had been burning and pulsing all night. He was tempted to run and tell Dumbledore about it, but that scar had been constantly tingling since Voldemort had returned.  
He walked down the hallway and heard footsteps behind him.  
"Harry!" Hermione called, "Wait up!" She yelled as she ran to join him. She looked at Harry and smiled, "Good morning Harry, how'd you sleep?"  
Harry forced a smile and admitted, "I wish I could say that I did sleep."  
"You're scar?"  
Harry nodded.  
Hermione looked at him with concern written on her face. "Harry, I know you don't want me to nag you, and you know I usually would, but this time I won't. I know you'll do the right thing."  
"Hermione, why is it," Harry asked, "that you seem to tell me what to do without telling me what to do?"  
Hermione stopped walking and looked at her feet. For a second, Harry thought that perhaps he had hurt her feelings. When she looked up however, she smiled, completely catching Harry off guard. "It's a gift I inherited from my mum."  
Harry laughed and Hermione resumed walking.  
"Oy! What's so funny?" Ron asked, joining them at the entrance of the Great Hall.  
"We were just talking about Hermione's innate skill of hen-pecking." Harry explained.  
Hermione rolled her eyes and chuckled to herself. She had gotten used to the teasing after seven years of it.  
The trio entered the hall and took their usual spots at the Gryffindor table and started serving themselves breakfast. As more students and a few professors started pouring into the hall, Hermione continued watching the professors.  
"Don't you think it's strange? About Professor McGonagall being gone?" She asked.  
"Hermione," Ron started, "you know she's probably on a mission for the Order." He finished quietly, although most Gryffindor's already knew of McGonagall's involvement in the Order of the Phoenix.  
"I realize that, Ronald," Hermione said, fuming slightly, "I meant that she would be given an assignment on the first few days of the term. I've never known her to miss the sorting. It mus be quite an important mission."  
"Hermione's right, of course," Harry said, observing the professors' table as well. "She would never miss the sorting unless she were de-"  
"There she is!" Hermione exclaimed, cutting Harry's sentence short. Ron and Harry turned around to see Professor McGonagall walking directly towards them.  
"Potter," She said quickly, "Professor Dumbledore must speak with you immediately."  
"Yes, Professor." Harry said, obediently standing up. He knew better than to ask questions when her tone was like that. He quickly made his way out of the Hall.  
As he exited, Professor McGonagall stood watching him, and Ron and Hermione could see worry and sadness etched on her face.  
"Er... Welcome back, Professor." Hermione spoke, breaking the brief silence.  
"Thank you, Ms. Granger. Congratulations, once again, on your appointment of Head Girl." McGonagall spoke, but not truly paying attention. Clearly, she was preoccupied with something else.  
"Mr. Weasley, Ms. Granger, perhaps you should follow him."  
Hermione nodded and she and Ron walked out of the hall, but not before Ron could grab a couple pieces of toast.  
"That was strange." Ron muttered while munching on the toast.  
"Don't you see?" Hermione asked, "Something big has happened. It looked as if she hasn't slept in days."  
They both saw Harry up ahead and ran to catch up.  
"She sent you too?" Harry asked, already knowing the answer.  
Hermione nodded and tried to smile, but was so nervous that she couldn't. Ron was finding it hard to swallow his toast, so he shoved the remaining slice in his pocket.  
They approached the Phoenix gargoyle and Harry spoke the password. The Phoenix rose out of the way and the trio quickly made their way up the stairs. Harry knocked on the door, and then opened it slowly. Professor Dumbledore sat at his desk, a sad look on his face, but his eyes twinkling, as if holding in a surprise. Remus sat in one of the chairs by Dumbledore's desk, and Harry nodded his head in greeting, receiving one back from Remus.  
"Mr. Potter, thank you for joining us so quickly. And Ms. Granger and Mr. Weasley, I see Professor McGonagall thought ahead by sending you along as well." Dumbledore spoke. He motioned for them to sit, yet Harry remained standing. He looked at Remus, who nodded. Reluctantly, Harry sat.  
"I'm sure all three of you are curious as to why I sent for you." Dumbledore began. Seeing them nod their heads, he continued. "Harry, I regret in telling you this, but there is something we did not tell you about your parents when they passed away." Looking directly into his eyes, Dumbledore spoke slowly, "We thought at the time that your mother passed away, that she may have been expecting a child."  
Hermione gasped and Ron looked as if he had been struck. Harry however, remained stoic.  
"I know." He whispered. Hermione and Ron whipped their heads around to look at him. "I mean, I didn't know exactly, but I had a feeling... I found a baby shower invitation in the Dursley's garage. I figured my mum was pregnant."  
Dumbledore waited a moment in silence and sighed. "Harry, we assumed she was still pregnant, however we were wrong." Hermione gasped again and he continued. "Your mother gave birth to a 'Jamie Lynn Potter' two weeks before Halloween."  
Harry looked as if he were in shock. He had a little sister. All he could think about was how. How could she have been born and no one knew it? When Harry's brain finally started working again, he asked hesitantly, "How- How?" How could no one know this for certain? Are you telling me that you people thought my mother was pregnant and you didn't tell me? And what about my little si-sister? Was she killed by Voldemort before he killed my father?" He asked, becoming angrier by the second.  
Remus looked at Harry with guilt plaguing his features. "We weren't sure how exactly to tell you Harry. If we were right, it would have added to your loss."  
"But I asked you, and you said you didn't know." Harry almost yelled, standing.  
"I said that because I honestly didn't know if she had ever been alive at all." Remus explained.  
Harry stopped and considered what Remus had said. "Then why are you telling me this now?"  
"Harry," Dumbledore spoke again. Harry turned and glared at him. "Perhaps you should sit down again."  
"I'd rather stand, sir." Harry snapped sarcastically.  
"As you wish." Dumbledore conceded. "The reason we are telling you this now is because Jamie is alive. She did not die with your parents as some may have believed."  
Harry's eyes widened with shock as Hermione gasped, yet again. Ron turned to look at Harry, Remus, then Dumbledore. Then back at Remus and Harry. What the bloody hell was going on?  
Harry sat down again. "I- I..." he stuttered, "My sister is- she's alive?"  
Dumbledore's eyes lit up again and he smiled. "Yes, she's alive. She is a very healthy but very tired fifteen, soon to be sixteen year old young lady." He said somewhat proudly. A cloud of concern passed over his face. "However I must warn you, she did not know of any of the wizarding world until yesterday."  
"Professor?" Hermione spoke up finally, "Where has Jamie been for the past fifteen, almost sixteen years? How did she survive Voldemort without anyone knowing about her?"  
"Thank you for asking, Ms. Granger. It was quite interesting for us to find out these answers as well. Mr. Weasley?" Ron snapped back to reality and nodded. "Tell me," Dumbledore continued, "does the name McZinnie ring any bells in your mind?"  
Ron thought for a moment and his eyes widened as the metaphoric bell started tinkling in his brain. "Theodore McZinnie played for the Chudley Cannons in 1978 to 1980 as a beater. He turned Deatheater then, and after V-Voldemort's disappearance he was never seen from again.  
"Very good Mr. Weasley. Five points to Gryffindor for that, I think." Dumbledore said. Ron smiled, somewhat proud of himself.  
"Professor, what does Theodore McZinnie have to do with Jamie?" Hermione persisted.  
"Theodore was one of Tom Riddle's closest followers, next to Lucius Malfoy. He was there when Tom fell for the first time, and he kidnapped Jamie from her bassinette that Halloween.  
Harry stood, balling his fists. "Professor, where is he, and where does he have my sister?"  
"Theodore fled the country, taking Jamie and his wife Genevieve to the United States. They lived nomadically there for many years it seems, finally settling in rural city of Eureka in California, raising Jamie as 'Janie'." Dumbledore said, and then his eyes clouded over. "But any vengeance you have for him would be ill-placed. Theodore is dead, as is Genevieve. They were murdered trying to help in Jamie's escape. They're home was attacked last night.  
Harry looked down, "Deatheaters?"  
Dumbledore nodded. "Yes, Deatheaters. They were sent to kidnap Ms. Potter in order to hurt you."  
"And she's safe?" Harry asked, concerned, "Is she alright?"  
Lupin and Dumbledore glanced at each other. Harry looked at the two of them, worried. "They didn't get her, did they?"  
Dumbledore shook his head. "No Harry, thankfully, they did not succeed. Remus and Professor McGonagall, however, did manage to succeed in their mission, which was to retrieve Jamie and return her to her family."  
Harry perked up. "She's here? Where is she?" He asked excitedly.  
"She is asleep in the infirmary at the present moment." Dumbledore explained. "She's had a very difficult night and is experiencing what muggle's call 'jet-lag'." Seeing Ron's vacant expression, he defined it by saying, "The young Ms. Potter is experiencing a time change issue. While it is almost eight o'clock here, it is about midnight in California. Jamie, or rather Janie, as she wishes to be called, feels like it is very early in the morning."  
"Ahem" A throat cleared behind the trio and all five of the office inhabitants turned to find Professor McGonagall standing in the doorway.  
"Ah- Minerva." Professor Dumbledore said, "Right on time. I trust you will continue to brief our head students and quidditch captain on the happenings of last night." He finished, rising from his desk.  
"Professor," Hermione asked before she could stop herself, "where are you going?"  
"I must attend to certain, obligations I have set before me, Ms. Granger. Any further questions will be handled by Professor McGonagall." With that and a mischievous but kind smile, Dumbledore walked to his fireplace and spoke "Ministry of Magic" and disappeared into the green flames.  
The trio looked at Professor McGonagall, Lupin, and then at each other.  
"Well, Mr. Potter, I suppose you would like to meet her?" McGonagall said, breaking the silence.  
Harry could only nod in agreement. His brain was so full he was sure it would explode at any second.  
As the group was exiting Professor Dumbledore's office, McGonagall turned and said, "Once we are in the hallway, we do not speak of what we have just learned. Is this clear?"  
She said it in such a way that even Remus found himself nodding his head dumbly.  
The group walked to the infirmary in silence, with Ron and Hermione giving each other doubting looks. They entered and saw the main room empty.  
"Minerva," Madame Pompfrey greeted, "Good to see you back so soon. Our guest is in the back room."  
"How is she doing, Poppy?" McGonagall asked.  
"The poor dear." Poppy sighed, shaking her head. "I had to give her a dreamless sleep draught And then Iconvince her that I wasn't going to hurt her."  
McGonagall turned back to face the trio who had anxiety, confusion and concern in their eyes.  
"Before I let you see her, Potter, I must make something very clear." She said, emphasizing "very".  
"She went through a metaphoric hell last night. She saw the people who cared for her for nearly sixteen years practically murdered. As it is, she doesn't know that they are dead yet Not under any circumstances are you going to distress her further by revealing that fact."  
Harry nodded again and tried to start walking towards the room his sister was in. His feet, however, had different ideas, planting themselves firmly in the ground. Ron nudged him, giving him a push and Harry walked hesitantly behind Madame Pompfrey. She opened the door and led him inside. Moments later, she re-immerged by herself and quietly shut the door behind her.  
"Professor," Hermione whispered, "I know this isn't a good time to ask, but how can we by sure this is her. Is it possible that there may have been a mix-up?"  
Lupin walked over and put his hands on Hermione's and Ron's shoulders. "We have no doubt in our minds that Janie is Harry's sister." He said, his eyes becoming slightly misty.  
"Why is that?" Ron asked.  
Remus tried to answer, but could not find his voice. He looked to McGonagall, who smiled wistfully and said, "She is the exact reflection of Lily, and has James' eyes, not to mention his attitude. There is no one on this earth who could look more like them than Janie and Harry."  
After a few moments, McGonagall looked at her pocket watch and sighed. "I suppose I should try to get some rest. Poppy, let me know if anything happens if she wakes before Albus returns?" She asked, quite uncharacteristically.  
"Yes, of course Minerva." Madame Pompfrey obliged.  
Turning to Ron and Hermione, McGonagall said, "Mr. Potter will be excused from his classes today. I trust that you will not be attending class as well?"  
Shocked at the invitation they had to ditch class, Ron nodded his response for both him and Hermione. Hermione looked slightly dismayed, however she knew there was no way she would be able to concentrate if she were to go to class.  
McGonagall nodded to Remus who then took a seat by a window. After McGonagall had gone, Ron and Hermione followed Remus' example, taking a seat, waiting for Harry to exit the room.  
Remus interrupted the brief silence. "How are you two taking this?"  
Ron looked at Hermione and replied, "I don't know about her," he said motioning to Hermione, "but I feel like this isn't real, a dream perhaps." Remus nodded in agreement and then looked at Hermione, waiting for her answer.  
"I suppose I'm in shock, I mean, I never would have even dreamed that Harry had a little sister." Hermione admitted.  
"Not many of us did." Lupin said and smiled, with a hint of sadness.  
Hermione looked at her old professor quizzically. "How are you doing with all this, Remus?" She asked.  
"I'm doing alright, I suppose. Its difficult to learn that one of your deceased best friends' child is alive after thinking for so long she had never been born." Remus sighed and looked out the window. "The strange thing is, is that I would have been her Godfather, had Voldemort not mucked everything up."  
"But Remus," Ron said, "maybe you still can be."  
Remus looked at him with kind and tired eyes. "Perhaps." Was all he replied.  
It was at that moment Harry emerged from the room. Hermione and Ron stood and walked to where he was standing, staring out a window, contemplating something.  
"Harry?" Hermione asked.  
"Hey mate," Ron broke in gently, "How are you doing? How is she?"  
Harry looked away from the window. "I'm fine. Janie, she, she's sleeping." Hermione could sense the tension Harry was caging inside himself. His fists were balled up and tears in the corners of his eyes were threatening to fall. She grabbed his fist and unfolded his fingers gently. He looked at her gratefully and allowed her to lead him to a seat by Remus.  
After he was sitting again, he looked at Hermione and Ron and muttered, "I don't think I'll be going to class today. I- I want to be here when she wakes up."  
"We know, and we," Hermione said, motioning to both her and Ron, "are staying with you."  
Harry was shocked at Hermione's statement. Not only was she not nagging Harry about skipping class, but she was voluntarily missing class herself. He grinned, grateful for the support.  
"So Harry," Ron said after a while, "how did she look?"  
Harry thought for a moment, "You know that picture of my mum that Hagrid gave me?" Harry asked. They nodded and Harry continued, "Her hair is a little curlier, but she looks exactly like mum, just younger."  
The group lapsed into silence and Remus allowed himself to slim into a fitful sleep. Hermione began reading ahead in her Transfiguration book. Ron drifted off to sleep as well, and Harry looked enviously at Ron, wishing that he too could sleep.  
Hermione noticed this and whispered, "Harry, I'll wake you if anything changes."  
Harry shook his head. "I want to be awake."  
Hermione smiled and whispered, "The dreamless sleeping draught has a lasting affect of up to five hours. I'm pretty sure its okay for you to take a nap."  
Harry considered this and whispered back, "Fine, but wake me up if anything happens, and I mean anything."  
Hermione smiled patiently, "Of course I will, Harry." She reached over and squeezed his hand. He caught her eye with his and the two stared at each other for a bit. Ron yawned in his sleep, startling them both, causing them to jump apart and blush profusely.  
An awkward silence passed. "I think I've seen her before." Harry said, catching Hermione's attention.  
"What? How could you remember seeing her before?" She asked, somewhat skeptical.  
"During the summer," Harry remembered, "I had dreams, and while I don't remember all of them, I do remember that there was a girl in it." Hermione shifted uncomfortably. "Now that I've seen Jamie, or Janie, or whatever her name is, I keep feeling like I've met her. The girl, in my dream, she had reddish-brown hair. Like my mum. And so does my sister. It makes sense. That girl had to have been Jamie."  
"Harry," Hermione started hesitantly. "I can't tell you what you dreamed, because only you can remember that. But is it possible that perhaps Voldemort was using her image to trick you in some way?"  
"No." Harry said quickly. "This had nothing to do with Voldemort. My scar never even twitched in those dreams. I don't know how to explain it. It's just, I know her. And I think it's from those dreams." Harry ran his hands through his hair, frustrated.  
Hermione looked down at her book, then back at Harry. "If you say it was her, and you know it, then it must be. I've never been keen on divination, but perhaps someone was trying to connect with you, trying to tell you that she was alive. Who am I to say that a higher power was not involved here? I believe whole-heartedly that maybe someone was trying to bring you together."  
Harry nodded, appreciating her understanding attitude. At least that was one thing he could count on for continuity. He yawned and leaned his head back against the chair. Two minutes later, he was lost in his dreams.  
Three hours passed, and Ron had woken up twice. Remus had gone to the kitchens to ask Dobby to bring them food; Dobby willingly and ecstatically obliged and brought their meals to them. Harry however, remained asleep, and Remus, Ron, and Hermione whispered, trying not to wake him.  
At half past eleven, Harry jolted in his chair, startling himself from sleep. Beads of perspiration dotted his forehead. Hermione and Remus looked at him expectantly, waiting for him to say something.  
Suddenly Madame Pompfrey swept into the room and made a beeline for Jamie's room. Harry watched sa she walked quickly down the aisle, then stood up abruptly, startling Hermione and Remus. He strode toward Jamie's door and waited.  
Hermione, who had been awake the entire time, looked down at Ron, who had fallen asleep again with his feet up on another chair. She kicked his feet and they dropped onto the floor with a thud. Ron jumped to his feet, fumbling for his wand.  
"Wha, spiders? Where?" He asked, dazed and thoroughly confused. He looked at Hermione, who glared at him, then nodded her head towards Harry. Finally a look of realization passed over his dace and he wordlessly walked to where Harry was waiting, Hermione right behind him, rolling her eyes.  
As the two approached Harry, the door to Jamie's room opened and Madame Pompfrey scurried out. She glanced at Harry and just said, "I must call Professor Dumbledore, and he will decide things from there." With that she vanished into her office. Within a few moments she emerged again, Professor Dumbledore accompanying her.  
"Professor Dumbledore, may I- er..." Harry stuttered.  
"Yes you may, Mr. Potter. Just one moment, please." Professor Dumbledore asked, stepping into Jamie's room.  
A few minutes later, the door opened, and Professor Dumbledore motioned for Harry to enter. Harry looked at Hermione and Ron and grinned nervously.  
Hermione smiled and whispered, "Go on, Harry. We'll wait for you."  
Reassured, yet still incredibly anxious, Harry entered Jamie's small room.  
Professor Dumbledore sat in a cushioned chair next to Jamie's bed, blocking the now-conscious Jamie from Harry's view. When Dumbledore saw that Harry had entered, he stood and smiled, his eyes twinkling.  
"Mr. Potter, I would like to introduce you to your sister, Janie. Janie," he said, turning to her, "this is your brother, Harry."  
Harry stepped forward hesitantly. Janie sat up in the bed and tried to offer a forced smile. Harry's knotted stomach pounded, and his heart tightened. So this was his sister. He tried to think of something to say. "Think Potter!" He yelled at himself.  
"Hi. It's nice to meet you." Harry choked out. He could feel his cheeks growing pink and was grateful that there wasn't as well lit as in the infirmary.  
As an afterthought, he extended his hand. He mentally slapped himself for such a vague gesture.  
Yet Jamie, or Janie, took his hand and shook it. "Hi. Good to meet you too, I guess." She responded. Her voice sounded tired and restrained; hollow. Harry glanced at her hauntingly familiar eyes and saw an emotion he knew too well: grief.  
Janie locked eyes with her brother, but quickly looked away, feeling officially freaked out by his eyes. She had seen them before, perhaps in a dream.  
Professor Dumbledore excused himself quietly and left the room. Harry watched him shut the door and looked back at his sister. She was staring intently at her blanket, as if searching for a clue in the mystery that she now found herself in.  
Harry eased himself into the chair and sat with his elbows on his knees, simply staring at the girl who looked startlingly like his mum.  
Janie looked up and noticed him staring at her. "What?" She asked, slightly irritated.  
Harry snapped out of his trance and blinked a few times.  
"Ho- how are you doing?" He asked.  
Janie grinned, grimly. "Well," she started, "I'm alive, which remains to be seen as a good or bad thing. I'm exhausted, but I can't sleep, well no, I don't want to sleep. I'm starving, but I really don't feel much like eating." She paused, looking down at her quilt again. "Oh yeah, and there's that little fact that my entire life has been a lie and everything I've known to be true is in fact false. My parents aren't really my parents, I've an older brother, I'm a witch, said brother is a wizard, my real parents are dead, having been murdered by a lunatic wizard bent on world domination and consequently, is trying to kill us."  
Janie took a calm breath. "Other than that, I'm fine, how are you?" She finished, looking back at Harry, whose jaw had dropped slightly. He shut it immediately, and finally said, "I'm okay, thanks."  
Janie grinned apologetically. "Sorry, I talk a little fast when I'm nervous," she explained, "or upset. Or happy for that matter."  
"No," Harry stopped her, "It's just that I've never heard of my life summed up like that before. That's exactly how I felt when I was eleven, just without the big brother bit."  
Janie grinned slightly and Harry continued, "So I've heard you called Jamie and Janie. Which is it?"  
"I've only heard myself been called Janie," she said, "So I'm used to that. Is it alright if we stick with Janie?" She asked.  
"Sure, its your name." Harry said.  
"So," Janie said after a pause, "Now what?"  
"I was wondering the same thing myself." Harry replied. "I suppose I can introduce you to Ron and Hermione.  
"Ron and who?" Janie asked, pushing the covers off of her.  
"Hermione." Harry answered, "They're my best friends."  
"Oh." Was all she said. Harry stood and moved back to give her room. Janie swung her legs around and put her bare feet on the floor.  
She stood at about one hundred and sixty-six centimeters, at least. She was slightly taller than Hermione, and Hermione was exactly one hundred and sixty-six centimeters. Janie straightened out her clothing, muggle clothing, Harry noticed.  
Janie realized Harry was looking at her attire. "We- I didn't really have time to grab much." She explained quietly, staring off into space. The images of the previous night raced in her mind.  
Harry nodded in understanding. "Then I guess we'll just have to get you some new things." He reached for her arm, snapping Janie out of her reverie.  
Harry offered his hand and Janie took it, hesitantly. They walked to the door and as Harry opened it, he gave Janie's hand a squeeze, and stepped outside of the confining room.

* * *

**_Authors Note:_**   
**So, here's the next chapter.... I must emphasize that this is just a preliminary draft, and while I'm pretty sure most of it will stay in, I've gotta change a few parts, simply because I don't like the flow. I'm leaving for a couple weeks, and I have no idea when I'll be able to sit down and load up my next chapter, so, faithful readers, I ask that you have faith and know that I will return.   
Ducky sends her love from summer camp!**


	6. Choices

Authors Note --------> Couldn't get the stupid tabs to work.... so the paragraphs are unfortunately, not indented.... if anyone knows how to fix it, please let me know and I'll have Ducky give you a cookie!!!

Dreamsweeper: **Hey! Ummm… I mean, hi! Sorry it's been so long. I had a hectic summer, and then with school starting, I had to move, summer camp, a lot of stuff. But now I'm back and in full avoidance mode of midterms, papers and finals. YAY SCHOOL!  
**Ducky:_I'm so glad we're back!  
_Dreamsweeper: **Me too. sigh I think we had a long enough break, what do you  
think?**  
Ducky: _Yup. And by the way, high school is **so much** fun! I love tennis,andmy locker, and my tennis racket, and my own cell phone, y miEspaňol._  
Dreamsweeper: **You are too twisted for color t.v. Anyway, enjoy this chapter!  
**Ducky: _¡Sí!_

* * *

Chapter Six - Janie's Choice

Once in the bright and sterile infirmary, Janie squeezed her eyes shut, willing them to grow accustom to the light. She felt the firm grasp of Harry's hand, and blindly followed the direction she was being pulled. Not knowing where Harry was leading her made Janie a bit nervous, and she opened her eyes again, hoping to see something besides white walls. Thankfully, her vision cleared and ahead of them she saw a small group of people who were talking quietly in a corner of the infirmary. While she knew two of them, Professor Dumbledore and Remus, the other two were strangers to her, and Janie felt herself shrink behind Harry.

Harry, on the other hand, was in a stupor as he led his sister to introduce her to his best friends. **His** sister. Never before had he been able to say or even think about that as a reality, and here she was. A bit different from how he imagined, however. He'd been assuming that she'd have some sort of English accent, but she sounded like a Yankee. He'd have to thank the McZinnie's for that some---. Wait, the McZinnie's were dead. The Deatheaters killed them. Janie didn't yet know about it. What would she do when she found out about it? Blame Harry, most likely. It was his fault; after all, that she was now in danger, he was her brother and wouldn't be in this mess if it weren't for him. If the Deatheaters found out who she was, it would be difficult to keep her safe. To Harry, her life mattered more than his own, no matter what any prophecy said.

Harry was so lost in thought as he approached Hermione and Ron that he didn't realize that Janie was no longer in sight. Shocked, he whirled around and found her hiding behind his back, trying to remain out of Hermione and Ron's view. Ashamed that she'd been caught, Janie looked down at the floor, silently cursing about how stupid she was acting.  
_  
This wasn't even a problem yesterday, McKenzie! Get the hell over it!_ She yelled at herself as she felt her brother's worried eyes upon her. Glancing up she tried to smile, but failed.

"Are you sure you're ready to meet them?" Harry whispered.

Trying to swallow the lump of fear that had built up in her throat, she nodded, finally feeling the lump descend into her stomach. Unfortunately it found its resting place in the pit of her stomach and started growing more furiously as Harry moved out of the way, and Janie was then in the presence of two very new people. She found comfort in the fact that Professor Dumbledore and Remus were there as well, but since the day before, Janie had a trying time with trusting people whom she thought to be trustworthy, so go figure.

"Janie, this is Ron Weasley. He's the captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team here at Hogwarts. Brilliant keeper." Harry complimented Ron, who's ears immediately turned a bright shade of red as he reached out to shake Janie's hand. As she hesitantly reached out to shake his hand, Janie made a mental note to ask later exactly **what** Quidditch was, and what in the world a Keeper was.

Harry introduced the only girl in the group next, who Janie supposed to be Hermione. And she was. "This," Harry began dramatically, "is the head girl of Hogwarts, Hermione Granger. She's the brightest witch in our year." He said smiling, meanwhile, Hermione swatted him in the head, muttering things that sounded like the word prat.

"Its so nice to finally meet you, Janie. I've been so excited about this that I've hardly been able to contain it." Hermione said laughing nervously.

"Nice to meet you." She whispered and tried to smile, but failed again. And then she smelled something. It had the familiar scent of good food. Glancing to her right, she saw a table with leftover sandwiches and her stomach growled involuntarily.

Staring at her feet sheepishly, she murmured "Sorry. I didn't get a chance to really eat dinner last night."

"Quite alright, Ms. McKenzie." Dumbledore spoke gently. "Actually, I have an excellent meal prepared for you as a welcoming feast if you would accompany me back to my office."

Janie looked at Harry and Remus, who both nodded their approval of Dumbledore's office.

"Okay." She shrugged, and followed Dumbledore out of the infirmary, Harry, Hermione, Ron and Remus directly behind them.

Dumbledore walked quickly through various corridors and the rest of the group kept up as best they could, which wasn't difficult for Ron and Harry. Janie, who had been running all night long was starting to become slightly winded. Finally, they reached the stone gargoyle, which hopped out of the way as Dumbledore spoke the password. He ushered them inside his office and left the door for Remus to close behind them.

"I apologize for the rush, of course, but classes will be getting out soon, and I believe it would be best to keep your presence here fairly secretive. As best we can, and for as long as possible at any rate." Dumbledore explained.

Janie nodded as she fought to regain control of her breathing. She took a seat in her previous chair as the others sat down.

"Here at Hogwarts," Dumbledore explained, "we have a welcoming feast that celebrates the arrival of our new students. While we don't know if you wish to be a student here, I believe that some kind of feast would be appropriate. Tuck in!"

As Dumbledore spoke those last words, he raised his hands and a small table appeared in front of each of the students and Remus that had plates piled with food and goblets filled with pumpkin juice.

Janie, who was still getting used to everything appearing out of thin air, stared at the food with awe. Unfortunately, her hunger had begun to dissipate when Dumbledore mentioned that she might be at Hogwarts permanently, and also of the thought as to why she was there in the first place. She poked at her food idly as she watched Ron start to devour everything on his plate. She watched in amazement as he shoveled his food into his mouth and was amused when Hermione sighed, exasperated.

"Honestly, Ronald. You ate an hour ago!"

Ron, who cared more about his food than her criticism, rolled his eyes and continued on with the massacre of the food on his plate.

Professor Dumbledore watched on in amusement and glanced at Janie, who most interestingly enough, had not yet touched the food on her plate.

Janie felt his eyes on her and looked up to meet his gaze. Seeing an encouraging look on his face, Janie hesitantly picked up the fork that sat beside her plate, scooped up some mashed potatoes and put it to her lips. Fighting the urge to gag, she placed it in her dry mouth and swallowed it. With great amounts of effort, it went down her throat, and came to rest next to the pint size ball of fear that seemed to have taken up residency in the pit of her stomach.

"Beats potato soup." Janie mumbled quietly.

Appeased at Janie's efforts, Dumbledore settled into his chair, eyes twinkling. He glanced at Harry, trying to catch his eye. However, Harry was sitting in his chair, also hesitating in eating, and looking somewhat preoccupied. Dumbledore made himself a side note to speak with Harry later on, in private about what was on his mind. He'd learned in Harry's fifth year the consequences of what could happen when communication broke down.

Remus looked around the room, seeing Harry undoubtedly worrying about Janie, and Janie, staring at her food dejectedly. However he turned his attention back to Dumbledore as he heard him clear his throat.

"Ms. McKenzie, I know you, as well as everyone present must have questions concerning your stay with us. I believe now would be an appropriate time to answer those questions that may be bothering you."

There was a moment of silence, and as Hermione was preparing to ask her own questions, Janie finally spoke up.

"Professor, do you know how long I'll be here for? My school actually starts today and I don't want to fall too far behind."

"Ms. McKenzie, your education, along with your safety, is one of our priorities here at Hogwarts. We do not know how long you will be with us at this point, but in all honesty, you must be prepared to stay for quite a while. There is no telling how long the war against Voldemort may continue. We are prepared to keep you here for an extended period of time. It was your parent's plan to have you attend Hogwarts, after all." Professor Dumbledore explained as tactfully as he could.

"Speaking of parents, do you know where mi- I mean, the McZinnie's are yet? I'd like to thank them personally for mucking up my life." She muttered, glaring intensely at her plate.

Professor Dumbledore opened his mouth as if to speak, but stopped short. He looked at Remus and shook his head.

Taking his cue, Remus spoke, "Janie, the McZinnie's were murdered last night." Janie's fork clattered to the floor and she bent down to pick it up as Remus continued. "They're bodies were found outside your home shortly after we left. I'm sorry."

Janie felt like she'd been punched in her gut. They died. The McZinnie's were dead and now she'd never know why they had dragged her into this mess that was unexpectedly her life. Janie fought to keep her composure as a small tear fell from her eye. She could feel the sorrowful eyes of everyone in the room on her. In an effort to control herself, she quickly changed the subject.

"So am I going to stay here or go back to California?" Her voice cracked involuntarily.

Dumbledore, who was somewhat surprised at her lack of reaction at the news of her caretakers' death, answered her. "Hogwarts is by far the safest place for you to remain. We have many forms of security in our castle that you would not find in any safe house in England or in the States. Also, we don't exactly want the States to know you're here."

"Why?" Janie questioned skeptically.

Remus interrupted. "Last time the wizarding worlds of England and America got into a custody battle, we had a small, well, conflict that resulted in the colonies separating themselves from England."

"_That's_ what the American Revolution was about? A custody battle?" Janie asked in disbelief. Things just continued to go from bad to worse.

"In any case," Dumbledore continued, "we feel it best to keep your being here a secret. And since you will be living here, we have a number of options for you to consider in regards to your education."

Once again, Janie appeared completely clueless.

"Our first plan is simply to continue your muggle education here. You would study by means of textbooks and graduate by mail. Its been done before by muggle born students whose parents wished for them to gain a muggle education as well as a wizarding education."

Janie nodded, considering how much of an education she'd be able to get from a textbook.

"Then," Dumbledore continued, "our second plan for you is to begin your education in witchcraft and wizardry. Since you have missed five years of classes you will no doubt be behind in your studies, yet I am confident that you can catch up, to a certain degree, on basic wizarding concepts before winter break." Dumbledore paused and noted the intrigued expression on Janie's weary face. He continued, "Of course this curriculum would involve an intense introduction of the basic subjects we study here at Hogwarts. You would be required to attend private tutoring sessions with each of our course professors and pass a number of exams showing a basic understanding of each of them. It would be difficult, but again, I believe you would do well."

Janie stared at Professor Dumbledore with a dumb expression. "Let me get this straight. You want me to start studying witchcraft and have a review of everything I was suppose to have been learning for the past five years in a matter of months? What exactly do you think I am, a wonder child? Not only have I been 'out of the loop' with all of this stuff since I was born, but I'm not exactly a genius either. I barely made A's in my other school. What chance do I have here?"

Dumbledore glanced at Faux for a brief moment before answering Janie's question. "Ms. McKenzie, although this may seem overwhelming, we are not expecting a miracle from you in order to accomplish the goals that we may be setting in front of you," he explained. "But these goals are attainable. We would never tell you that you could accomplish something without the hope of actually accomplishing it. You are the daughter of two very intelligent people who were very capable of anything they put their minds to. Even following the rules." Remus snorted quietly.

Janie crossed her arms and looked up ant the ceiling. Sighing, she looked back at Dumbledore. "And you think I can do it? I mean, learn everything that they have?" She nodded in Harry, Hermione and Ron's direction.

"I believe it to be possible that you will learn everything you need to know to be a competent witch."

Looking down at what was now cold chicken, Janiepaused for a moment,the choice weighing heavily on her mind. Finally, shenodded. "Sure. Why not? At least it'll be something interesting."

The students who were in the room let out a collective sigh of relief. Hermione, Harry and Ron had been hoping that she'd agree to not only start learning about witchcraft, but that she'd even want to stay in the first place. Noticing that no one was speaking at the moment, Hermione ventured a question.

"Professor, if she's a student, which house will she be in?"

"Excellent question, Ms. Granger." He said getting up. "I believe that our Sorting Hat may have something to say about that." Dumbledore walked over to the Hat's shelf and pulled it off. As he approached Janie, she became increasingly nervous.  
_  
I have to wear **that** old hat?_ She thought.

He placed it on his desk in front of Janie. She stared at it doubtfully and looked around the room, raising her eyebrows. Suddenly, the old hat burst out in a fit of song.

**"Oh I'm the Sorting Hat, it's Hogwarts where you're at.  
Don't be afraid, I know what to do, the house you go in is all up to you."  
**  
With that, the Hat stopped singing.

"Figures that she'd get the abbreviated version, now doesn't it?" Ron whispered to Hermione. Hermione ignored him, but elbowed him nonetheless.

Dumbledore took the hat and placed it on Janie's head and the smell of old leather overwhelmed her.  
_  
And this is suppose to accomplish what, exactly?_ She thought to herself.

"**I'm suppose to sort you into your appropriate house, my dear, lost Potter child. I was wondering exactly when I'd be able to sort _you_.**" Janie's jaw dropped in surprise as she heard that strange voice inside her head. Looking around, she could tell that no one else had heard it. Relaxing slightly, she listened to the hat. "**Its obvious that you're intelligent. Both of your parents were. And brave. But what is this I see? Ahhh, a very cunning side to you. Not feeling very loyal, eh? But still… hmmm…. very difficult to place, very difficult."  
**_  
Are you by chance going to put me in a house sometime today?_ Janie asked, mentally tapping her foot.  
**  
"Why, do you have somewhere else to be? Now then, you aren't afraid of much except for-"  
**_  
Don't say it. I don't want to even hear you say it. Please. Just, put me where you think I'd do my best, okay? I'm not afraid of that.  
_  
"**Not afraid, are you? I wouldn't exactly say that. But I think I know where I should put you."** Janie braced herself for whatever the hat told her. "**The house you belong in is most definitely GRYFFINDOR!"  
**  
Seeing the jubilant expressions on Ron and Remus, Janie could tell that the others could hear the house she was finally sorted into. Hermione ran up to her.

"I knew you'd be in Gryffindor." She gushed. "It's a wonderful house, and Professor McGonagall is an excellent head of house."

"Your parents would be proud." Remus said with a hint of pride.

Janie nodded and looked at Harry, who was standing nearby smiling at her. "I'm sure you'll do well, Janie. Gryffindor _is_ a great house. The people are pretty nice in it too."

Again, Janie nodded and continued to sit in her chair, feeling her eyes start to droop. In an effort to stay awake, she yawned and asked Professor Dumbledore another question.

"Professor, when will I start classes?"

"We will begin your tutoring within the week. Of course, we will have to purchase a wand for you, as well as any other supplies you will be needing here."

Janie perked up a bit. "I get a wand?" She asked with great interest.

Professor Dumbledore smiled at the enthusiasm Janie was displaying.

"You will also need a uniform and your textbooks, as well as any additional readings that may help you in gaining the necessary knowledge of our world."

"Where exactly do we get this stuff from? I've never seen any cauldrons or wands for sale at a Wal-mart or anything."

Professor Dumbledore smirked. "You can get any and all of your supplies at Diagon Alley. Of course Hogsmeade does have quite a selection of shops, I believe Diagon Alley has always had a superior selection of enterprises."

A thought crossed Janie's mind and she grimaced and bit her lip. Hesitantly and quite embarrassed, she mumbled under her breath, "Sir, I don't know exactly how I'll be able to pay for any of that stuff. Do you think they have a payment plan?"

"Janie," Harry interrupted, "our parents left us with an inheritance. It's as much yours as it is mine. You can use the funds from that to buy anything you need."

Shocked at the generosity of her brother, she had to stop herself from staring at him in awe. He was sharing his, well, their inheritance. It was amazing. She was definitely not used to the McZinnie's just giving her things like money. She had to earn them, and that was hard work.

Dumbledore nodded in affirmation of Harry's offer.

"Very good. Now, Ms. McKenzie, I'm afraid we have more to discuss about your staying here. As you know, there are several people who attend school here that would be more than happy to inform adverse persons about your presence here. I suggest that we make your presence here as quiet as possible by altering your name."

"You mean I have to change my name?" Janie exclaimed. "I thought I could keep my old one. Weren't my par- I mean, Ted and Genevieve's name different than mine?"

"Unfortunately, the Deatheaters found out about your parents alias, thus they know  
about yours. Keeping 'McKenzie' would be too much of a risk, a risk I am not willing to take. Is there any name you would prefer?"

"Do I get to keep my first name?"

"I believe 'Janie' is a common enough name for you to keep."

Janie thought for a moment. "Carver. Call me Janie Carver."

"Very well, you are hereby enrolled at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry as Janie Carver." Professor McGonagall interrupted as she made her presence known to those not facing the door. She approached Dumbledore's desk with several sheets of parchment. He looked them over, nodded and signed a few of the sheets.

Professor McGonagall turned to face Janie. "I'm pleased that you decided to attend Hogwarts, Ms. Carver. I've designed a schedule for you that will constitute your first three months here. You will begin a private two-week tutorial with the professors starting in Charms, then Potions, Transfiguration, Defense against the Dark Arts, the History of Magic, Care of Magical Creatures, and then a choice between Divination and Arithmancy. You will spend three hours a day in private lecture after the day's classes have been held. During the morning and afternoon hours, you will be in an individual study hall in the library where you may complete any homework assignments as well as any individual research that you will need to complete. On Saturdays, you will spend the day with the assigned professor in order to make any attempt to catch up with the rest of your year."

Janie's mouth hung slightly open as she heard the next fourteen weeks of her life planned out for her. Thoughts of reconsideration crossed her mind. Sighing, she shrugged them off. Clearly, she wasn't safe off the grounds of the school. And with the McZinnie's being frauds and, well, dead, she had nowhere else to go.

"Do I get any time to myself? I mean without having to be in the library or class?" She asked desperately.

Professor McGonagall nodded sharply. "Of course you will have the evenings to rest. Sundays will be your day to choose whatever you want. I do warn you, of course, that you will have a tremendous amount of homework."

Janie gave an understanding nod. She knew all too well what large amounts of homework was like. St. Cecilia's hadn't been a preparatory school for nothing.

"Very well, Ms. Carver. Welcome to Hogwarts." With that, Professor McGonagall hurried out of the room to inform the professors of their newest student, and her delicate situation.

Janie breathed. Very slowly. All of the new information was giving her a headache. Combined with her sleep deprivation, her headache seemed to be magnified. She heard the voices of the various people in the room speaking quietly with each other.

"Ms. Carver, I expect you should be very tired. I am sure you are eager to return to bed." Professor Dumbledore asked, although it wasn't really a question.

"Yeah, I guess. Do I have to stay in the infirmary? I don't really like hospitals at all. Or nurse's wards for that matter." Janie said quietly, trying to keep her headache at bay.

"Of course you will be staying in a dormitory with other students." Professor Dumbledore assured her. "The question is, of course, which dorm you want to stay in."

"I get a choice?" Janie asked, rubbing her forehead.

"You may stay in the Gryffindor dormitories, if you would like. However, I would prefer if you were to stay in an even more secured place, with less people and various resources at your disposal, should you need research materials for your studies."

"Wait." Ron interrupted, confused. "You want her to stay in the library?"

"Ronald. Don't speak. Please." Hermione begged. "Professor Dumbledore wants her to stay in the Head Boy and Girl's dormitory."

Hermione looked at Harry expectantly, who nodded in affirmation of the idea.

"Its fine with us, Professor. Will she be sharing my room?" Hermione asked.

"Ms. Granger, your generosity is very kind, but Ms. McKenzie will have her own room." Professor Dumbledore smiled.

As this conversation was happening, Janie was sinking further and further into unconsciousness. Soon, she only knew darkness, and heard only a very familiar but soft melody.

Professor Dumbledore turned his attention back toward Janie and noticed that she was asleep.

"It seems Ms. Carver is a few steps ahead of our planning. I'd wager that she likes the cushioned chair very much." Professor Dumbledore said, standing.

"If someone would like to assist Ms. Carver, I believe we can use my fireplace as a direct connection to your dormitories."

Harry stood and walked over to his sister's chair. Janie had slumped in the chair and was at an odd angle that must have been unimaginatively uncomfortable. Not knowing what else to do, he put one arm under her neck and the other arm under her legs as he lifted her off the chair.

Hermione stood and walked to the fireplace.

"This won't be a dizzying experience, will it, Professor?" Hermione had always despised using the floo network.

"Since the connection is such a short distance, I believe it should be as simple as walking in one fireplace and out the other, Ms. Granger." He assured her.

Janie sighed in her sleep as Harry carried her to the fireplace. Ron followed him, grabbing a handful of floo powder and threw a bit of it into the fire, turning the red flame green. Professor Dumbledore nodded to Harry and he stepped into the fireplace.  
"You'll find her room at the end of the same hallway as Ms. Granger's room. Her few belongings should already be in there, I believe."

Harry nodded. "Hogwarts Head Common Room." Before he could blink, Harry was in the Head common room. He stepped out and waited for Hermione and Ron, who stepped out of the fireplace immediately after he did.

Janie shifted, squirming slightly as Harry made his way to the back of Hermione's hallway. Hermione ran ahead of them and opened the door and turned the blankets and sheets down in Janie's new room. Harry eased his way through the door, being careful not to hit Janie's head on the doorframe. He set Janie down and Hermione pulled the blankets over Janie's tired form. With a sigh, Janie sank into the bed and was at peace.

Ron, who had been watching this all take place, sighed as well.

"I think I've had about as much excitement as I can take for one day."

"Me too, mate," Harry agreed, "me too."

The three of them walked out of Janie's new room, leaving the door ajar, andplopped themselvesdown on the sofa in the common room in front of the fire.

"She doesn't exactly sound like we do, does she?" Hermione mentioned. It wasn't really a question, just an observation.

"No, she doesn't." Harry agreed.

"Won't it be hard for her to fit in?" She asked.

"We'll figure something out." Ron answered quietly.

And then they were silent, lost in their own thoughts, staring into the crackling flames of the fireplace.


	7. Shopping

Author's Notes:

**Dreamsweeper: I'M ALMOST GRADUATED, ALMOST! ALMOST!  
****_Ducky_:_ Yay lady! I'm almost outta school for the summer!  
_****Dreamsweeper: Yay for us! Its blockbuster season and school is almost over, and what do we have here! A NEW CHAPTER!  
**_**Ducky: Wait, a new chapter! I never thought this day would come! I mean, its only been about SIX MONTHS since you promised the last one.  
**_**Dreamsweeper: Well with so many term papers to do, the most important thing for me to do right now is procrastinate, so procrastinate I'll do until I finally feel the pressure surmounting to stop. Hehe, oh look at the time. I have about five minutes left to procrastinate.  
**_**Ducky: Yeah, so lets get this over with… ahem We don't own Harry Potter.  
**_**Dreamsweeper: Nope.  
**_**Ducky: And we're both REALLY poor so if anyone even wanted to sue, you'd get a sock.  
**_**Dreamsweeper: Yup. Well, maybe two socks.  
**_**Ducky: That don't match.  
**_**Dreamsweeper: And have holes in them.  
**_**Both: So enjoy the story!**_

Chapter Seven: Shopping

Janie slept through the night, waking only a few times after having been startled by the feel of a new room. Her dreams were blurs of images of people running through rooms and pointing wands at each other, leaving dead bodies in their paths. For a time, Janie's pillow was soaked from tears that she could not hold back.

When she woke, her face felt swollen and her mouth felt like a sock had been stuffed in it. Grimacing, she got out of bed, and stood up. Too quickly, in fact, because black spots invaded her vision and she was forced to sit down before unconsciousness took over again. Taking a deep breath, she walked over to her door, and gripped the handle. Hesitantly, not knowing what to expect on the other side of the door, especially since she hadn't a clue as to where she was. Bracing herself, she opened the door and looked out into the hallway. Not seeing anyone, she crept to the end of the corridor, and turned to peek inside the common room.

What she saw was one of the most plush rooms that she had ever stepped foot in. The walls were adorned with crimson draperies, and lush carpets covered the floor. There were couches facing a fireplace and tables with parchment and books. Several bookshelves lined the walls, and she sadly remembered her father's study.

"Not my father." Janie whispered morosely, remembering the events of the past day or so.

Janie contented herself with walking amongst the bookshelves, looking at the different titles. Books like Unfogging the Future, Magical Creatures and Where to Find Them, and Magical Maladies and What Went Wrong filled the shelves.

Janie inquisitively reached for one titled, So You Spliced Yourself, What Happens Now? Flipping through a few of the pages, Janie's eyes widened when she saw drawings of witches and wizards with missing body parts. Shocked, she quickly shoved the book back on the shelf. Nervously, she sat on one of the cushioned chairs and busied herself by chewing on one of her fingernails.

After a few moments of sitting and chewing, Janie heard a "pop" and looked around the room curiously for the perpetrator who emitted the "pop."

"Hello?" She asked, not seeing anyone.

"Hello, miss!" She heard a squeaky voice from below her. Looking down, her eyes landed on a small creature with large eyes, large ears and a long nose. Shrieking, Janie jumped back onto one of the couches.

"I is so sorry to frighten the miss! Dobby only meant to see if Harry Potter's miss wanted something to eat." The small creature spoke quietly and very afraid because of Janie's reaction.

"W-who is ummm… Dobby?" Janie asked, afraid yet intrigued by the intelligent creature before her.

"I is Dobby, miss." He answered timidly.

"Oh. Ermmm…. Hello, Dobby. I'm Janie." She hesitantly introduced herself, casually slipping into her English accent.

"Miss Janie is too kind. Almost like her Harry Potter. Is you hungry at all, miss?" He asked, looking at her adoringly.

"A little, but you don't have to get me anything. I'm sure I'll be able to find something." Janie replied, not sure if she should have him bring her food. She was quite hungry. She had hardly eaten in the past two days.

"But Dobby is here to bring miss any food she wants from the kitchens. If you is not wanting for Dobby to find food, then Dobby…" at that, Dobby started sobbing, blowing his nose on what looked to be a battered woolen hat, afraid of what might happen should he had been found to be less than useful.

Quite uncomfortable, Janie crept down from the couch and patted Dobby on his very skinny shoulder. Not sure what to say, she gently soothed him, saying, "I'm sorry, Mr. Dobby. I didn't realize... your, erm, job. You can bring me any food you want, if it makes you feel better that is."

At that, Dobby's ears perked up and his tears ceased their flowing.

"Miss is so very kind! Dobby will bring you something you is most going to like. Dobby promises!" He said loudly, and with a snap of his fingers, was gone.

Janie looked around, bewildered and astonished by the event that had just happened. Dobby, or whoever he was, was nowhere to be seen.

Then as suddenly as he had disappeared, he reappeared, and with him came several hovering plates, a glass and a pitcher that were floated onto the table. Janie's jaw dropped wide open.

"I have got to start getting use to this stuff." She muttered to herself. She took a seat at the table and stared at the smorgasbord that Dobby had prepared for her. There was absolutely no way she would ever have been able to eat that much.

"Dobby, did you want any of this? I mean, I won't be able to eat it all, and-" she was cut off by the sound of Dobby sobbing again.

"Dobby, what is it? I'm sorry… I take it back, I'll eat all of it, or I'll try to, but please don't cry." Janie panicked.

"Dobby is crying because the only peoples who's ever asked Dobby to sit and eat is your Harry Potter and his Weazy and Granger. You truly is one of Harry Potter's friends!" He exclaimed, hugging Janie's leg.

"Oh dear." Janie murmured.

"Looks like you've got your hands full." Hermione giggled from the doorway.

"Is he always like this?" Janie asked, trying to politely shake Dobby off her leg.

"Sadly, yes." Hermione sighed. "But such is the house-elf way of life. Grateful for any kind of decency."

"They can't have known many decent people then." Janie murmured, finally succeeding in having Dobby dry his tears.

"Does Harry's Granger want anything to eat?" Dobby asked Hermione.

"No, thank you Dobby, I'm perfectly well." She replied with a smile.

"Then Dobby is goings to go back to the kitchens to tell the other house-elves of the new friend of Harry Potter." With that, Dobby snapped and vanished, again.

"Hermione, would you like any of this? I only wanted toast, and he brought me an entire buffet." Janie offered.

"I'll have a bit. I just don't like asking Dobby for anything. I don't want to get use to the idea of depending on a house-elf." Janie nodded in understanding.

Hermione sat down next to Janie and they both started eating breakfast, Hermione staring somewhat intently at Janie, and Janie enjoying the quietness of the moment. Finally, she realized Hermione's eyes were on her and she self-consciously looked up.

"Hi… can I help you?" She asked.

Hermione shook her head and focused once again on her food. A moment later, she changed her mind and spoke. "You really do look like you're mother." Janie sighed a bit, and Hermione continued, "I know you're getting tired of hearing that. Believe me, I know. I look extremely like my mother too. But your mother was a classic beauty as well."

At this, Janie snapped to attention.

"What, you don't believe me?" Hermione asked. "I know. I realize you probably haven't even seen a portrait of her. But you will."

"I- I just, well," Janie stuttered, "have never heard myself referred to as a 'classic beauty' before. It just sounds, well, foreign I guess."

Hermione nodded in understanding. "I know exactly how you feel about that. The first time I ever wore a dress with my hair pulled out of my face, I heard so many compliments that I simply didn't expect, and still don't believe. It was a bit disconcerting."

Hermione continued speaking, and Janie poured herself a goblet of pumpkin juice. "So we're going to Diagon Alley today. Luckily, it should be somewhat empty, and our escort will no doubt be willing to take us to the most important stores relatively quickly." Hermione looked at her watch.

"Bugger, we're running a bit late." Getting up, she motioned for Janie to follow her.

Hermione led Janie to a bathroom. Much like the common room, the bathroom was adorned with plush draperies and floor mats that made one's feet feel like they were walking on a cloud.

"You can go ahead and shower and get ready in here." Hermione said, "I know a cleaning charm I can use on your clothes, so you go ahead and go in that dressing room and toss your clothes over to me. I'll do the rest."

Janie, startled and a bit dazed, stumbled into the dressing room and did as she was told.

"Hermione?" Janie asked, remembering her backpack that she had had with her when she arrived. "I brought a backpack with me, do you know where it is? It had some, well, personal belongings in it."

"Oh, of course. I believe it's in your wardrobe." Hermione ran out of the bathroom.

"I have a wardrobe?" Janie asked herself, amazed.

Hermione ran quickly back into the bathroom. Janie opened the door wide enough for the backpack. Seeing that all her belongings were still present, she sighed, relieved.

"Alright, you do your thing, and I'll go get ready myself." Hermione left once again, allowing Janie to her shower.

* * *

Half an hour later, Janie emerged from the bathroom, feeling clean and fresh for the first time in days. She journeyed once more to the common room, finding Hermione sitting on one of the sofas, Harry beside her. They stopped talking at once when Janie came into the room. 

"Janie, erhm… I wanted to give you my key to our vault at Gringott's Bank. Whatever you need, or want for that matter, go ahead and purchase it." Harry awkwardly gave Janie his key.

"Erhm… thanks, I suppose." Janie pocketed the key, not knowing exactly what to expect at Gringott's. Back in the muggle world, all one needed was an ATM card and a personal identification number.

"I spoke with Dumbledore, and it seems that Tonks and Remus will be escorting you to Diagon Alley." He assured Hermione, though looking uncomfortable about the idea himself. Hermione seemed to calm down at this, although Janie was curious as to why she was so tense about a shopping trip.

"Harry, we'll be fine. I promise." Hermione said, gently touching Harry's shoulder. Janie found this curious and raised her eyebrow. Her hand lingered on his shoulder for a brief second before a small snapping sound that caused all three of them to jump apart. Hermione and Harry drew their wands and pointed them at the figure that had come through the fireplace.

A woman with neon purple hair and a small button nose shook soot out of her hair and stood up off the floor.

"Wotcher, Harry!" She exclaimed upon seeing the wands trained upon her.

"Tonks!" Hermione giggled, putting away her wand and running over to hug her. "You scared us half to death. We didn't think you would have flooed to our common room."

"Well Dumbledore gave us the permission to use the floo to get in here. Remind me never to travel by floo again, eh?" Tonks explained.

"At least you can travel to Diagon Alley with a Portkey, eh?" Harry smiled as he pocketed his wand.

With another crack Remus stumbled into the common room.

"Took you long enough, eh Remus?" Tonks teased.

"I had some last minute reminders from the Headmaster." Remus explained. "Janie, I see you're well."

Janie blushed as the topic of conversation traveled to her. She nodded, still waiting to be introduced to Tonks.

"Bugger," Hermione kicked herself, "We forgot to introduce you to Tonks!"

Harry's hospitable self jumped in, saying, "Of course. Janie this is Nymphadora Tonks. Call her Tonks, or else. Tonks, this is Janie, my, erhm, little sister." He motioned to Janie, making her blush once more.

"My goodness, you look like yo- ow! Remus!" Tonks yelped as Remus elbowed her lightly. He gave her a pointed look. A look of understanding came over her and sheepishly revised her comment. "You look like you're doing alright so far."

"I've been better." Janie responded dryly. It was apparent that they were trying to mind themselves around her, censoring their conversations. It was slightly irritating.

"Alright," Remus clapped drawing their attention, "Hermione, Janie, are we ready to go?"

Hermione looked to Harry and nodded. Harry turned to Janie, who shrugged.

"Please be safe." He murmured to Hermione.

"Of course." She whispered, somewhat nervously. It wasn't everyday she went to Diagon Alley with Harry Potter's little and very endangered sister.

"See you soon." Harry spoke to everyone as he headed out the door and to his Quidditch practice.

"Alright, Professor Dumbledore asked me to make sure we all go incognito. So here we go." Remus brought out several vials from his coat. Handing them to Hermione and Janie, he added, "and while we're in Diagon Alley, I'm dad, and her name," he said motioning to Tonks, "is mum."

"What is this, exactly?" Janie asked questioningly staring at the vial.

"It's an age reversing potion, dear." Tonks smiled as she changed her hair color from neon purple to a subtle brown color. Janie stared in amazement.

"Will I learn to do that?" She asked with hopefulness.

"Unfortunately," Tonks explained, "being a metamorphmagus is something that you have to be from birth. Now drink that up, we have to be going soon."

Janie's attention snapped back to the small vial she was holding. "And this will do what, exactly?"

"It's going to make you appear ten years younger so we can go through Diagon Alley without being noticed." Remus supplied. He noticed Janie's resevations, and added, "It is also enchanted to shrink the clothing you are wearing as well." With that, he drank the vial he held and his hair became darker and his face smoothed over, loosing the wrinkles time had placed on him.

Janie shrugged, staring unsure at the vial still. She looked to Hermione who took a swig from her vial.

Feeling the eyes of Tonks and Remus, Janie put her lips to the unfamiliar vial and tilted it upward. The liquid was cold and tasted like stale tomato soup. Coughing, she handed the vial back to Tonks and waited for what she supposed was going to be her age regression. A tingling feeling at the base of her ribcage started emanating through her body and she felt her body shrinking, becoming petite. Janie looked at her hands, and watched as they shrank to the size of a six-year old. Astounded, she looked at Remus, Tonks and Hermione in disbelief. Hermione had regressed to a seven year old.

"Wow." Janie said in a high pitched voice. Startled at the unfamiliar voice, she tested it again, feeling very odd. "That's my voice? I can't believe this, its so weird!" She giggled nervously.

"Remus," Hermione asked in her seven year old, still bossy tone, "how much time do we have?"

"Albus told us you should be alright for about three hours. But all the same, we have to get everything done as quickly as possible."

"Right." Tonks said, looking at her watch. "We've got twenty seconds until it activates. Hands on!" She held out a spoon for everyone to grasp on to.

Once again, Janie put her finger on the portkey and waited for that tugging feeling. All in one moment, she felt it grab and whip her forward. Before she realized what was happening, she was gazing at the roof of an unfamiliar building.

"Alright, here we are." Remus murmured, helping Janie and Tonks up, both of whom had fallen over in their landing.

"Alright, first off to Gringott's, we're going to be going pretty quickly, and we'll explain as much as we can. But most things we'll explain when we get back to Hogwarts, alright?" Remus spoke quietly while holding Janie's and Hermione's hands as a father would.

Janie nodded, her long hair falling in her eyes.

Hermione handed her a small hair band, and Janie tied her hair back as quickly as possible, looking with wonder at the tavern they were in.

They traveled to the back of the tavern and came to a small courtyard surrounded by bricks. Remus took his wand, and tapped a series of bricks. Janie raised an eyebrow, not having any idea what to expect. The wall shuddered and the bricks crawled out of the way revealing Diagon Alley, and Janie's mouth dropped open.

"Wha-" She started, then remembering Remus' words. Hermione glanced at her and smiled broadly. One of her front upper teeth was missing and Janie unconsciously ran her tongue over her teeth. Her bottom front teeth were both missing, and she smiled back at Hermione, both giggling over the vague familiarity of missing teeth.

There were groups of people scattered throughout Diagon Alley and none seemed interested in what the seemingly young family was doing.

"So what do you kids want to do today, eh?" Tonks attempted to break the silent group.

"I want to go to Flourish and Blott's, er, mum!" Hermione nearly shouted, hesitating at calling Tonks "mum."

"And what do you want to do today, Janie?" Tonks tried raising a conversation with her.

"I dunno." Janie said quietly, eyes still struggling to behold all of the wonders that Diagon Alley held; an apothecary's shop, a bookstore with books piled high above the windows, and what appeared to be an exotic animal shop.

"Well we've lots to do, but if we've any time afterwards, I believe some ice cream would be in order."

At that, Janie perked up, "You mean you have ice cream here?"

"Shh…" Remus shushed her gently, "Of course we have ice cream. What is your favorite flavor?"

Janie thought for a bit. Ice cream had always been a rare treat with the McZinnie's. She tried desperately to remember what she had most enjoyed. She always had enjoyed Daiquiri Ice, but Rainbow sherbet held a fond memory of she and Eric playing hide-and-seek in their woods.

"Rainbow sherbet." She replied sullenly. The memory of Eric caused her to worry deeply. If he had gone outside during the Deatheaters invasion of her home, they wouldn't have hesitated in killing him.

Janie's companions noticed the sudden change in her mood, and Hermione looked at both Remus and Tonks with a pointed look.

"We're er, almost at Gringott's, Janie." Remus warned. "The goblins who run Gringott's are not the friendliest of people, so allow me to do most of the talking, alright?"

Janie nodded dumbly. She hadn't been expecting goblins at all. Ghosts, yes but goblins, she couldn't even imagine what a real goblin looked like.

Janie soon found out as her group entered the lopsided building covered in cobwebs. Janie shuddered involuntarily at the thought of spiders. They walked through the foyer of the bank, and she looked around with complete awe. The air was musty and almost everything was covered with old spiderwebs. Her eyes fell on a slight figure with pointed ear, fingers and teeth.

"Is that a goblin?" Janie asked Hermione quietly.

Hermione said nothing, but only nodded.

"How may I help you, sir?" One of the goblins asked Remus sharply.

"We would like to speak with your manager, er, privately." Remus requested. Janie clutched tightly onto his hand, waiting for the goblin's response. The goblin loomed over her and when he looked at her, she felt like he was peering into her soul. She shuddered again.

"My manager will be with you shortly, sir." The disdain on the goblin's last word was apparent. Janie sensed some sort of animosity between the wizard and goblin. Curious as to why that would be, she mentally told herself to ask Remus later. A few short minutes later an older goblin with a meaner face greeted their group, escorting them to his private office.

"Sir, my name is Kankeroot, how may I help you today?" Kankeroot asked gruffly.

Remus cleared his throat, "We have a very special circumstance that requires much anonymity as any kind of public knowledge could lead to dire consequences."

"Of course any information that is presented here would be kept confidential. Goblins are not as fickle as humans, I'm sure you know." Kankeroot spoke almost sourly.

"Of course," Remus acknowledged, "This young girl," he motioned to Janie who was still fearfully clinging onto his hand, "is Harry Potter's little sister."

A moment of silence passed. Kankeroot stared at Janie with an antagonizing gaze. Finally, he spoke, "The aging potion works well, tell Dumbledore congratulations."

"I will, Kankeroot. For now, the youngest Potter will need to make a withdrawal from the Potter family vault. Harry Potter has given her his vault key and permission to use as much as needed to retrieve her school supplies and any other necessities."

"I will lead you down to the vault personally." Kankeroot nodded.

Kankeroot led them from his office to the area where the carts were waiting to take owners to their vaults. Remus helped each of them in, Hermione and Janie on the inside of the cart, and Kankeroot ordered the goblin whom was driving the cart to go to vault number 687.

"Hold on, please." Kankeroot muttered.

Janie held firmly to the safety bar in front of her and prepared for a turbulent ride. Much to her shock, the ride down to vault number 687 was very smooth. Yet the speed at which they traveled was incredible and caused the rubber band in her hair to be blown out. Upon reaching the vault, her hair was entirely disheveled and her eyes were wide open. Never before had she traveled at such a speed, and it exhilarated her.

"Vault number 687." The driving goblin announced almost lazily.

"You two," Kankeroot motioned to Remus and Janie, "come with me." Remus and Janie complied without hesitation. Kankeroot carried the lantern and Janie stood closely by Remus. "Hold the lantern, please." Kankeroot asked of Remus. He obliged.

"Key, please." Kankeroot asked Janie. She fumbled for it in her pockets, not used to her child-sized hands. With trembling fingers she gave it to the goblin whom was almost as tall as she.

"Let me know when you are finished." Kankeroot opened the vault and stepped aside, leaving Remus and Janie to their business.

Janie looked inside the vault and gasped. She never imagined that her brother could have such a fortune. What astounded her more was that he was willing to share it with her.

"How much should I take, Remus?" she asked.

"No less thanforty galleons." Remus figured.

Janie nodded and reached in. She hesitated and asked Remus, "Remus, er, which ones are galleons?"

Remus chuckled. "The gold ones."

"Oh. Right." With that, Janie busied herself, occasionally asking Remus questions, such as what were knuts, sickles, and how much each one was worth. When she had filled a small pouch that Remus had provided, she stepped back from the vault and let Kankeroot close the vault. With that, they returned to the cart to find Janie and Tonks telling each other childish jokes, obviously trying to play the part of mother and young daughter.

The ride back to the top of Gringott's was just as exciting for Janie, who even let out a small "whoop!" as they traveled dangerously fast around the curves of the vaults. For the first time since her run two days prior, she felt alive.

As they group left Gringott's, Janie turned back to look at the old building. It was not as frightening as she expected. Shrugging, she turned back to join her waiting companions.

"Alright, Hermione, what's on our agenda?" Tonks asked her. Hermione whipped out a list of stores that they were to stop by.

"After Gringott's, we have Madame Malkin's Robes, the apothecary and after Flourish and Blott's, we need to go to Ollivander's. If we have time, we should stop by Weasley Wizarding Wheezes, Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor and maybe Magical Menagerie."

"As always, Hermione, you have mapped an exquisite day of shopping." Remus announced. Hermione beamed and pocketed her agenda.

They came to what appeared to be a dress shop. Remus excused himself from the group of girls and left them to their clothing purchases.

"Tonks?" Janie asked after Remus left, "How am I going to try on robes that will fit me if I'm not the right size?"

Tonks chuckled, "Justwrite downyour measurements, dear. We'll have you all sorted out after that."

Janie nodded, and wracked her brain trying to remember her sizes when she had been fitted for her last school uniform.

Hermione ripped a small piece of paper from her small notebook, giving it to Janie.

Whispering to Hermione, she asked, "Do you use inches or centimeters in England?" Hermione looked at her incredulously. A wave of understanding passed over her face and said, "Yes. England and most of Europe is on the metric system."

"Got it." Janie nodded. "I hate doing this."She grumbled as she scribbled down her bust size, inseam, waist size, girth and hip size. Not only did her lack of size in one area make her depressed, but so did the unproportionalmeasurements in other areas. She wrote down all the conversion quickly, not stopping to figure the math out on paper.

"Okay, mum, here's her measurements." Janie quickly slipped Tonks the paper.

Hermione looked impressed at Janie's quick summation skills. "Good at math, are you?"

"It was my favorite subject. Numbers just make sense to me." Janie explained in a timid voice.

Tonks approached Madame Malkin and told her that she needed to order robes for her daughter who was a Gryffindor at Hogwarts, as a birthday present. Giving Madame Malkin Janie's measurements, the robe entrepreneur went about her business readying the school robes Janie would need.

"Mum," Hermione whispered, tugging on Tonk's robe sleeve. "She needs muggle clothing as well."

"Right, Madame Malkin, have you any muggle clothing as well?" She asked, interrupting the seamstress.

"Of course, dears. In the back of the shop." Malkin called out.

Hermione and Janie walked to where Madame Malkin had told them to go.

"So you like mathematics?" Hermione asked quietly.

"Yeah, I was always good with numbers." _Especially odds and fractions_ Janie thought to herself as she remembered her small, innocent gambling ring.

"What was your favorite thing to study, do you think?" Hermione asked, as if reading apart of Janie's mind.

"Oh, I love fractions and equations." Janie explained as she went through some of the muggle clothing that appeared as if had out of the eighties. "I got good at them two years ago, after some, er, extra-curricular activities."

"Oh, what kind of extra-curricular activities?" Hermione asked, eager to begin telling Janie about S.P.E.W.

"Oh, just some mathematics clubs here and there." Janie lied. She was not foolish enough to tell the headgirl about her gambling ring. A silence descended upon them and they both continued to go through the muggle clothing quietly, occasionally mentioning how ridiculous some of the clothing was.

Five minutes later, Janie's robes were finished and boxed. She had found several pairs of pants and several plainly colored t-shirts that would last for a while as long as she didn't stain them.

Tonks, Hermione and Janie spent eight galleons on clothing, leaving them with a lighter pouch and several large boxes. Tonks muttered an incantation and the boxes shrank down to the size of a galleon. Janie was amazed yet again at how convenient magic was making her life.

Remus met them outside and asked how they had done. After asking Hermione where their next stop was, the group traveled across the small street to Flourish and Blott's.

Hermione squealed with glee, as she was able to travel up and down the aisle and pick out several books to purchase with her own money. Janie looked at Remus and asked if Professor Dumbledore had given him a booklist.

"Why yes, he did. Lets just go through here and pick out what we find."

Hermione came running back up to them and seemed to come out of her happy stupor. "Let me see that list, Dad." After a minute of looking at it, she told Janie, "I have most of these books, and you're welcome to them unless you really want your own copy."

Janie shook her head and was grateful for Hermione's studiousness. With many of the books out of the way, she was free to look at titles that would be helpful to her understanding the wizarding world more. Yet every time Janie would pick out a book, Hermione walked by and said, "Oh, I have that one too."

Janie could have been very frustrated by Hermione's quirkiness in Flourish and Blott's, but instead started giggling. It was no wonder why Headmaster Dumbledore had paired her with Hermione. She seemed to have read everything in the bookstore.

Half an hour later, Hermione had found three large books to purchase and had Tonks shrink them down to the size of galleons for her, and Janie had purchased a book called, I'm Witch, so Now What? A complete guide of what to expect when you find out you're a witch by a man named Hazel Conger.

The group wandered out of Flourish and Blott's. Remus looked at his pocket watch and grimaced.

"We've only an hour and a half left until we have to be back."

"We only have to really go to the apothecary and Ollivander's and then we're done, Re- er, dad." Hermione caught herself almost calling Remus by his name.

"Alright, to the apothecary. And quickly." He added.

The group hurriedly made their way through the thinning crowds and quickly made Janie's purchase in the small and very smelly shop.

"How much time do we have now, dad?" Janie asked.

"About an hour and fifteen minutes." He said quickly, "To Ollivander's, quickly now."

They walked to the corner of the street they were on and approached Ollivander's Wand Shop. There was a series of sudden popping sounds and a loud explosion. Janie and Hermione dropped to the ground, Tonks and Remus whipping out their wands out. Remus grabbed both of their hands and quickly moved them inside Ollivander's shop.

"Listen to me carefully, Hermione. Take Janie and hide in the back of the shop. Use Ollivander's floo and get back to Hogwarts as fast as you can. GO!" Remus ran from the shop and put a locking charm on the front door. Hermione grabbed Janie's hand and ran past the counter where Mr. Ollivander was standing.

"Sorry Mr. Ollivander, we have to use your floo!" Hermione shouted.

"Of course, Ms. Granger, of course. In the back around to the left." He called out as he muttered unbreakable charms on some of his more precious belongings.

Janie looked around with wild eyes, so many things were happening all at once. What was happening on the street? Where had Remus and Tonks gone? How had Mr. Ollivander known who Hermione was? What was in all of these boxes that filled the shelves around her?

Hermione had stopped running and pulled her wand out, saying "enflamare." A spark emitted from her wand and lit a fire in the fireplace ahead of them. She grabbed a handful of floo powder and handed it to Janie.

"Say 'Hogwarts, Dumbledore's office, sugar quills.' GO!" Hermione cried as an explosion emanated from beyond Ollivander's door.

"But I don't like traveling by floo!" Janie cried as she quickly climbed into the fireplace.

She shouted everything Hermione had told her and threw down her floo powder. Nothing happened.

"What'd I do wrong?" Janie asked, panicked,

"Oh Merlin, they've blocked the floo network." Hermione gasped.

"How are we supposed to get back?" Janie asked as a seed of fear started growing into something the size of a pumpkin in her stomach.

"Mr. Ollivander, we need a portkey!" Hermione cried.

"Alright, Ms. Granger, hold onto your hat." Ollivander hurried over holding a quill.

"Portus." He intoned. The quill glowed a brilliant blue but then turned a vicious shade of green.

"Oh dear, I believe they've discovered how to prevent portkeys from being made." Ollivander murmured.

"That's bad, isn't it? That's SO very bad." Janie repeated unbelieving their horrific bad luck.

"What do we do, Mr. Ollivander?" Hermione asked panicked.

"Hide my dear. They will not spare you, even if you look like children. I will fend off any that may enter my shop. But hide, and we will have to wait for help." Mr. Ollivander's usual cheerful and kind face was darkened with sadness and despair.

"Quickly, in the back of the shop. There lies a small basement that I rarely use. You may be able to slip in there." He pointed to Hermione the location of the basement.

Hermione once again grabbed a pale and dazed Janie who had begun glancing at the various boxes. Hermione ran to the other back end of the store and began looking for any kind of indentation in the floor. Janie continued to look at the various boxes.

"Janie, help me find the basement for Merlin sake!" Hermione yelled at Janie.

"I don't know who Merlin is." Janie murmured absent-mindedly. She reached for a box that was on the fourth shelf of the last row in the old shop. Taking the lid off the top of the box, she found a light brown wand about twelve inches long. A warm sensation washed over her and it made her smile. Janie waved it in imitation of Remus and red and gold sparks flew from the tip of her wand.

"I've found it!" Hermione shouted, snapping Janie from her fascination as she lifted up a very dusty handle that opened into a dark cellar.

At that moment a crash came from the front of the store. Shouts and yells could be heard, flashes of light radiated from the front desk.

Janie ran over to Hermione and both girls quickly descended into the dark cellar, closing the heavy door over them. Janie felt around the door for a latch and locked the cellar.

"I can't see anything, Hermione." Janie complained with a whisper. She was trembling and she could feel Hermione's fear.

"Lumos." Hermione whispered. The cellar around them was filled with more boxes and very musty. Janie sneezed and wiped her nose.

"This is bad. Janie, I need you to hide behind those boxes and be quiet no matter what happens." Hermione breathed. She was visibly trembling now.

"I thought you were, like, really good at fighting people, Hermione." Janie confronted her nervously.

"I don't want to fight unless its absolutely necessary, Janie. I could be expelled if I use magic outside of school."

"Well we're going to be killed if you don't do something should those people come down here!" Janie yelled impatiently. Her fear was quickly turning into anger, something that did not happen often. She squeezed her fists and noted that she still had the wand she had taken from the shelf. An idea fell from the heavens and landed in her head.

"Teach me something!" Janie commanded with a fierce whisper.

"What? I can't teach you anything in time, they'll come down here and kill us both!" Hermione whispered back.

"Look, I know I'm still really new at this wizarding stuff, but I am still really good at math and odds. If you teach me something within the next two minutes, we'll be better off than if its just you fighting."

Hermione gave a frustrated sigh and whispered "Fine! You want to learn something, fine! Repeat after me."

"Okay." Janie said, ready for her first spell.

"Stupefy." Hermione said.

"Stupefy." Janie paused. "Is that it?"

"Yes, now when you say that, you have to be able to visualize the spell forming in your wand. The stunning spell is used to knock your opponent unconscious. You have to want to knock out your opponent." A loud explosion came from near the cellar door. Hermione and Janie jumped.

"Try it on that box." Hermione whispered quickly, "if you get it right, at least we know that your can do something."

"That's _really_ nice, considering the circumstances." Janie whispered back. Standing up straight, she pointed her wand and flicked her wrist, saying in a loud clear voice, "Stupefy!" A stream of light emitted from her wand but fizzled away before it could hit the boxes.

Another loud explosion came from directly above them. The two girls could hear the shouts of anger and cries of curses and hexes above them.

With a new resolve Janie pointed the wand at the boxes and said a firm, "Stupefy." Finally a fierce stream of light shot out of her wand and collided with the boxes, knocking them over. A short-lived sense of accomplishment filled her but was interrupted by a loud thump over the cellar door. There was another thump, and Hermione and Janie realized that someone had found the door handle.

They glanced at each other, terrified and ran to crouch behind a small shelf filled with boxes. Hermione quenched her wand's light and Janie silently started praying to God that the person on the other side of the ceiling was a friend. Although the way they were trying to gain entry into the cellar was not reassuring.

A blast rang through the dark cellar and a beam of light from the outside filled the cellar with. Hermione and Janie waited with baited breath as the invading person put one foot down on the first step, and then another. Hermione quickly poked her head to the side of a box and caught a glimpse of black robes and a grey mask. A Deatheater. How he had gotten past Ollivander, Hermione did not want to think about.

Hermione waited for the lone Deatheater to put one foot on the cellar floor. She motioned to Janie to count to three.

One.

The Deatheater looked behind the first shelf of wand boxes.

Two.

The Deatheater knocked over the second shelf of boxes causing the two of them to jump. Janie whimpered softly.

Three.

Hermione and Janie jumped up and simultaneously shouted, "Stupefy!"

The Deatheater was knocked over by the force of the two curses and Hermione followed up on the stunning spell by a disarming spell. She picked up the wand and then yelled, "Petrificus Totalus!"

The Deatheater's limbs seemed to be come together and he ceased moving. Janie looked at Hermione with awe. She had seen Remus in action, but he was, well, old. She had never seen a person as young as Hermione fighting off powerful wizards intent on killing them.

There was a shuffle upstairs and Hermione and Janie could hear the sound of approaching footfalls.

"Oh shit." Janie muttered and they scurried behind the second shelf, hiding from whoever was coming. Hermione hadn't the time to chastise Janie for her crass language.

Another pair of feet came from above their heads and ran down the steps of the basement. Hermione once again counted to three as the figure got closer and closer. Janie prepared to jump out again. Hermione reached three and they both jumped out from behind the shelf, shouting "Stupefy!"

They were both shocked to see that the person they had been aiming for was no longer there. Their curses bounced harmlessly off of the wall.

"Well what do we have here, eh?" A gruff voice came from behind them. Janie felt someone grab her from behind and lift her up into the air, dropping her wand in surprise. Hermione screamed as she too was lifted up from behind.

"A couple of junior members of the Order of the Phoenix? Well now, I believe I have just the thing for you." The Deatheater threw them down on the floor, hard, and Janie felt her hand crack, and her head hit the floor. She cried out in pain, and Hermione rolled to the other side of the room.

"They are starting you early, aren't they?" The Deatheater snarled. "No matter, you won't be a problem soon." He pointed his wand at Janie, making herscramble away, effectively pinning herself against the wall.

"Avada Ke-"

"Expelliarmus!" A voice cried out from the stairs behind the Deatheater, throwing him across the room.

Janie looked up and saw a red headed man run down the stairs.

"Are you alright?" He asked the two of them.

"FRED!" Hermione yelled,

"Hello, do I know you?" He asked curiously, "Are you a frequent customer?"

"Fred, its Hermione, I took an aging potion and I look like I'm seven."

"You couldn't be Hermione, not nearly bossy enough."

"Fred, for the love of Merlin, help us out of this cellar and find Remus."

"Okay, so you are Hermione." He replied cheekily. "Who are you?" He asked looking at Janie.

"We'll explain later. We have to find Remus and Tonks."

Hermione struggled to stand up. She had sprained her ankle when the Deatheater had thrown her to the ground. Fred went over to her and helped her stand up.

Janie clutched her hand and stood up, shaking the black clouds away from the edge of her brain. Yet the clouds advanced upon her vision and she swayed where she stood.

Hermione called out to Janie and Fred barely caught her as she fell.

"Well this is a swell spot we've gotten into. I can't carry the both of you." Fred said as Janie tried to maintain consciousness.

"You can carry me piggy-back." Hermione decided with finality. "Are there anymore Deatheaters in the shop?"

"Nah, George and I pretty much took care of everyone." Fred explained.

"How many Deatheaters were there in here?" Hermione asked as they exited the cellar.

"Only three or four. Luckily you got the last two at this end." Fred observed.

"Janie, are you alright?" Hermione asked her.

Janie tried to push the cobwebs from her head so she could respond. Incredibly, the only thing she could think of was ice cream. "I want ice cream." She murmured dreamily. "My head really hurts."

"And ice cream will make that better?" Fred asked, wondering just who the young child was.

"No. But it'll taste good all the same." Janie felt as if she were wandering in a dream. "Is Mr. Ollivander alright?"

"Yeah, he was stunned, poor old bugger, but George is supposed to be reviving him this moment." Fred answered.

Fredwalked to the front of the store, and set both girls down. George was there, and Janie looked at both of them warily.

"There are really two of you, aren't there?" She asked, afraid of seeing double as a result of her head injury.

"He's my twin. Who are you?" George asked.

"Janie." Janie responded.

"What's you're last name?" George persisted.

"Ummm… I can't really remember right now, actually. Give me a moment." Janie said as she wracked her brain for her alias. Last name, surname, what the hell was her last name? It kept slipping her mind. Eric once said that Janie would never remember where she put anything if, well, Janie couldn't really remember what he said. She couldn't even remember her last name. Eric could. She missed him. Eric. Eric Carver. That was it!

"Janie Carver." She finally responded.

"Well, dear Janie Carver, I am George Weasley, and that ugly git who was just here was my identical twin Fred."

Fred returned, levitating the two downed Deatheaters to the front of the wand shop, binding them with ropes. George walked over to them and removed their masks.

"Lawrence Merkel," George sighed, "and Williams Zurek. We were supposed to graduate with them, right Fred?"

"Yeah, I remember them. And they're still ugly gits." Fred responded.

While they were conversing with Hermione, Janie got up from her seat by the front window and ventured outside where people were running back and forth, shouting for mediwizards here and there. Smoke filled the streets and Janie attempted to refrain from coughing. She heard someone off in the distance shouting her name, but at the moment she didn't really care. Her head hurt, and it felt like she was floating. She idly scratched her head and casually noted that her head was bleeding. She heard her name being shouted again, but saw the blue sky beyond the black smoke. She gazed curiously at it. The smoke created such a large contrast with the pure blue sky. She didn't feel herself being lifted up and carried back into Ollivander's shop.

The blue sky was the last thing Janie really remembered from her first shopping trip at Diagon Alley.

**

* * *

****Author's Notes:**

**Special thanks to Cindy and well, err, Ducky for reviewing! Cindy, sorry it took so long. I promise to update more often!  
****Dreamsweeper: Ducky and I really like reviews. They let us know if we're doing an adequate job of keeping you entertained in a world of fantasy. So please, give us reviews whether they're good, bad or indifferent and we promise that we'll do our best to pay attention (WE HAVE A.D.D!) to what you have to say.  
**_**Ducky: Thanks for reviewing! Hey look, there goes a butterfly.**_


	8. Infirmary

**Dreamsweeper: I graduated from college, yay!  
_Ducky_:****_ And I was promoted to the tenth grade, yay!  
_Dreamsweeper: We are so smart!  
_Ducky: Well… _**  
**Dreamsweeper: What?  
**_**Ducky: If we were really so smart, we would have invented Harry Potter before J.K. Rowling.  
**_**Dreamsweeper: crosses arms indignantly  
**_**Ducky: But don't worry, we'll invent something else, equally important someday.  
**_**Dreamsweeper: Like silent Velcro!  
**_**Ducky: I think that was already invented, my dear older sister.  
**_**Dreamsweeper: Curses! Foiled again! Are you sure?  
**_**Ducky: But until we're millionaires for thinking up some grand invention that changes the planet and culture, we are poor, we don't own Harry Potter, and we are not getting paid.  
**_**Dreamsweeper: Except in cookies!  
**_**Ducky: Silly lady, it doesn't count if we buy them for ourselves.  
**_**Dreamsweeper: I know that, duh! I just like paying myself with cookies. Enjoy the story, and leave a comment, gosh darn it!**

Hermione had been in pinches before. She had been petrified by a basilisk, fought beside Harry in the Department of Mysteries, and helped defend Hogwarts from an army of Deatheaters. Yet she had never been quite as frightened as she was when she and Janie had locked themselves in Ollivander's basement. She was quite capable of making logical decisions, and hiding in the basement seemed like the best choice at the time. Yet in retrospect, that decision seemed to have been one that shouldn't have been made at all. It was the decision to descend into the pitch-black cellar that caused two Deatheaters to corner she and Janie with no escape route. It was that very reason why she had a sprained ankle and why she was so dependent on the Weasley twins for the time being.

After unmasking the offending Deatheaters, Hermione listened as Fred and George made cheeky remarks about how the Deatheaters were discarded, and who had done what to which Deatheater. Hermione's day had been filled with enough drama to last her an extended period of time, so her mind drifted to the events of the cellar. She didn't notice when Janie stood from her seat and wandered into the smoldering streets of Diagon Alley.

"So Hermione, why are you the size of a six-year old, exactly?" Fred asked her.

"Seven-year old, Fred. I'm here with Janie. We have to keep her presence here a secret." Hermione explained.

"Right. Now," George prompted her, "who is Janie,

"And why is she so secret?" His twin finished.

Hermione sighed, frustrated, "I can't tell you why she's so sec-." Hermione cut herself off as she looked to where Janie was sitting just a few minutes ago.

"Where'd she go?" Hermione asked frantically, her eyes searching the shop.

"Oh, she's out in the street." Fred dismissed casually. He stood, walking to the doorway.

"Janie!" Hermione shouted from her seat in Ollivander's. With her sprained ankle, she was in no condition to go running after her.

"She can't hear me." Hermione said looking at Fred, her eyes growing wide with panic. "We have to get her inside before she's seen."

"Janie!" Fred attempted. Yet Janie continued to stare at the sky, and scratched her head.

"I suppose I should go and get the little bugger, eh?" George sighed lazily, walking past Fred and Hermione.

"Oh Lord, I'm going to lose it." Hermione muttered as Fred helped her back to her seat to interrogate her more.

As George was exiting what was left of the wand shop, he heard another voice calling Janie. It was Remus. His clothes were a bit singed and he had dirt smudged on his face.

"Remus! Are you alright?" George asked, going to his side.

"I'm fine. Help me get her inside." He said, motioning to Janie.

George went over to Janie and whispered, "Janie." But she still showed no response. Without any further hesitation, he gently picked her up and proceeded to carry her inside Ollivander's.

Janie slowly turned to face George, his presence finally registering in her lethargic brain. As she turned her head, George finally saw the blood on her head and her dazed expression.

"Remus," George called, "Janie has, well, I think it's a concussion."

Remus hurried over to where George was cradling Janie.

"Janie, are you alright?" Remus asked her.

Janie tilted her head lazily as she answered, "Rainbow sherbet." And then promptly passed out.

"We have to get her back to Hogwarts." Remus said with finality. "Now."

"Try to revive her," Hermione advised in a panic.

"That's best left to Madame Pompfrey." Remus checked his watch.

"Remus, what time is it?" Hermione asked in a worried tone, remembering their deadline.

"We have twenty minutes left." Remus answered. So much had happened in the past hour. He and Tonks had both nearly been killed and now Harry's little sister had passed out due to head injuries. He took out the spoon, saying, "Portus." The spoon glowed a bright blue and then faded.

"Are you lot coming with us?" Remus asked the twins. Not being ones to miss out on any important information, they nodded. The young Janie was fascinating, and they wanted to know what else they had missed. George stood up, still carrying Janie and joined Fred who was already touching the spoon.

"Remus, what about Tonks?" Hermione asked as she also placed a finger on the utensil.

"She's finishing some auror business, be along shortly." Remus replied as they were pulled forward.

Hermione grimaced as the sensation dragged her back to her school. She had always hated traveling quickly. Airplanes made her queasy, and brooms made her tremble in her loafers. Traveling by floo had the same effect as airplanes, and portkeys made her terribly nervous.

When their journey finally came to an abrupt halt, Hermione barely remained on her own two feet. She bumped into Fred as she tried to maintain balance. Luckily George had better luck in keeping his balance with Janie in his arms.

Remus ran to retrieve Madame Pompfrey from her office, and Hermione looked around them and noted they were in the infirmary. She hobbled over to a chair as well as she could and started taking her shoe off so Madame Pompfrey could examine it better.

George gently placed Janie on a bed near Hermione and stepped away. He looked at Fred and the two went directly to where Hermione was sitting and sat down in front of her.

"Who is she?"

"And why is she so bloody important?"

"And why does she look like she could be related?"

"Everyone with red hair looks like they could be related, Fred."

"True dear brother, but very few have the knack for getting into trouble as we."

"True. Now, where were we?" Fred asked his twin. "Ah, yes."

"Who is she?" The asked Hermione simultaneously.

Remus interrupted their interrogation and informed them that he was going to get Professor Dumbledore and Harry.

Madame Pompfrey ushered the twins quite forcibly from the infirmary to Hermione's great relief. She hadn't any idea of whether Harry wanted to tell the twins about his long lost sister. If he did, Hermione figured it would only be right for Harry to tell them instead of her. As Madame Pompfrey tended to Janie, muttering a few healing spells, Hermione tried to get her attention.

"Madame Pompfrey?" She interrupted.

"Yes Ms. Granger?" Madame Pompfrey asked still working diligently.

"I believe her hand may be broken as well. She landed on it quite roughly." Hermione offered the tip and watched as Madame Pompfrey gently whispered an incantation and Janie's wrist glowed a brilliant blue color and then faded away. Hermione looked up at Madame Pompfrey and smiled, impressed with the dependable care that Madame Pompfrey always gave.

"It never gets easier, healing children," Madame Pompfrey revealed, "but you get good at it, after a while."

Hermione nodded in understanding, and winced as her foot ached. She could only imagine how Harry would react and that response made her stomach turn.

* * *

Harry had been flying between the two ends of the Quidditch field all morning and the sun climbed to the middle of the sky, slowly. Looking down at his watch, he noted that Hermione, Janie, Remus and Tonks had been gone for just over two and a half hours. He prayed everything was going well, and tried to ignore an irritating sense of dread.

"Its just nerves." He tried to convince himself as he gunned his Firebolt around the field. Unfortunately, Harry was never very good at lying to anyone, particularly himself.

He glanced around the field, looking again for the golden snitch, not really paying attention to the practice being held around him with the exception of when a bludger came dangerously close to his head.

Lazily flying to another side of the field, Harry saw the glimmer of the snitch just beyond the faculty stands, and automatically flattened himself against his broom, racing to catch the damned devious snitch. When he was almost five meters away from the snitch, the snitch seemed to have recognized Harry's quick pursuit and attempted to escape its inevitable capture by diving straight down towards the bleachers below the professors' seats.

Harry saw its move and followed swiftly, gaining a strange confidence with his increased speed and his rapid fall to the earth. He reached out his hand and stretched himself to the end of his broom. The snitch was very nearly in his grasp, and his broom was almost upon the ground when the snitch again changed direction and flew across the field. Not one to miss a challenge, Harry wrenched his broom from its collision course and shot across the field, gaining on the snitch once again. He whipped past Ron, who was standing with a strange but familiar man. The snitch was almost in his palm.

"Come on." Harry grunted, and reached out a bit farther. He felt the familiar flutter of snitch wings in his hand and smiled as he flipped his Firebolt around, causing a rush of air to sail past him as he came to an abrupt halt. Hovering a few meters above the Quidditch green, he idly made his way back to Ron's side. Before he arrived, however, Ron shouted his name.

"Harry, quick!" His tone was such that Harry's heart plummeted and he once again flattened himself against his broom to reach Ron. Upon reaching him, he noticed that the familiar man looked remarkably like Remus. His clothing was the same, except for the rubble that littered his shoulders and the soot stains on his face, and Harry knew it was Remus; a younger Remus, but still him. Panic coursed through his veins.

"What happened?" Not waiting for a response, he asked quickly, "Where is she?"

Remus had no need to ask whom Harry was referring to.

"The infirmary, Harry. Har- wait!" Remus called after him, but Harry had already raced off to the infirmary on his Firebolt.

"Ron, you had better come too." Remus told him as he started back to the castle on foot. Ron nodded wordlessly and whistled for all the Quidditch players to come down and put away the gear.

Harry reached the doors of the castle in record time on his Firebolt. Within twenty seconds he had covered the stretch of land between the Quidditch field and the castle doors, had climbed off his broom and had begun to run up the series of stairs leading to the infirmary. He was exhausted from the lack of sleep and the intense practice, but the adrenaline pumping in his brain forced him to run up the stairs, skipping two at a time. He inwardly cursed the ward against apparating on school property.

"Janie, Hermione." He repeated in his head with every step, not even stopping when he passed by the twins, who looked at him curiously. His fear culminated as he came to the infirmary doors, and sweat dripped down his brow as he steadied himself for what lie ahead in the infirmary.

Gripping his Firebolt in one hand, Harry pushed the doors open, and he felt a cool breeze blow in with him.

He heard someone yell, "Harry!" and saw a small child running through the infirmary. The little girl had a slight limp, and brown bushy hair that seemed untamable.

"Her-Hermione?" He was astounded at the sight of a younger version of his best friend. He ran to meet her in the infirmary, bending on his knees to meet her short height. Anger resonated through his body, she was so small and Deatheaters had attacked both she and his sister. Yet as soon as Hermione was in his arms, the anger momentarily dissipated, and he was filled with relief instead.

"What happened?" Harry asked softly as he hugged her.

Hermione pulled back to look at his face, "Oh, Harry, she's alright, she just bumped her head but the Deatheaters closed in on us so quickly, and we tried to floo out of Ollivander's but they had disengaged the network and they found a way to block portkey enchantments so we had no choice but to hide in the basement and we stunned one Deatheater but the other one caught us by surprise and he threw us on the ground and she landed on her hand and then he tried to use the killing curse. Oh!"

Hermione's quick talking was cut short as Harry crushed her against him.

"Hermione, where is she?"

Hermione wiped her tears away and pointed to Janie's bed, "Over there." Hermione attempted to pull away and walk to Janie's bed but cried out in pain as her ankle disagreed with her intentions.

"Hermione, are you alright?" Harry asked as he helped her regain her balance.

"Yes, I'm fine." She lied. Harry gave her a pointed look and she spoke again, "Okay, when the Deatheater threw us to the floor I tried landing on my feet but I sprained my ankle instead."

Harry scooped Hermione up despite her quiet refusal and carried her to Janie's bedside. Upon placing Hermione on the bed beside Janie's, he was able to glimpse of what Janie looked like as a child. Yet there was a bruise forming at the top of her forehead, and traces of blood lingered around her hairline.

"She was lucky," Madame Pompfrey spoke, "a bump on the head and a broken hand is the least of her worries. If that man had actually been successful in using the killing curse on her, I don't have to tell you what that would mean." She paused, "Ms. Granger, I'll be back shortly to heal your ankle."

"Who tried to use the killing curse on her?" Harry growled as the gravity of the situation set in.

"Lawrence Merkel. He was in Slytherin two years ago." Hermione informed him.

"Where is he?" Harry's voice deepened in a way that Hermione had never heard before. She shrank away from him, not use to seeing his demeanor so dark.

"Harry," she murmured, "he's probably on his way to Azkaban or being interrogated."

Still sensing his hostility, Hermione reached out and put her hand on his shoulder.

Harry looked back and his anger quickly dissipated again. He looked at the young Hermione, who was staring back at him with innocent concern. There was a sudden flicker in her face, and Hermione uttered a small, "Oh," and she began to grow taller, her hair grew longer, and her clothes expanded with her chest and length of her torso.

Hermione blushed profusely as she went through the different growth spurts of puberty in front of Harry. Had she known that her time as a child was over, she would have politely excused herself and gone to the bathroom.

Harry noted her embarrassment and whispered, "Welcome back," to help assuage her discomfiture. He gave her another hug and Hermione winced as she accidentally put weight on her ankle again. Harry grinned and gave her a little shove, and Hermione landed on the bed directly in back of her.

"Stay off your foot." Harry advised. "At least until Madame Pompfrey can look at it."

He turned his attention back to Janie and witnessed her growth back into a teenager, and watched with amazement as her face became more like their mother's and resembled feminine grace.

"That was amazing." Harry breathed as he sat back on the bed beside Hermione. Hermione nodded wordlessly. She studied her hands in her lap and took a breath.

"Harry, I'm so sorry I couldn't take better care of her." She started, a tear falling down her face. "I promised you I would keep her safe and I couldn't even do that."

Harry sighed, "Hermione, you know that I trust you with my life. I knew that there was risk involved when I saw you and Janie going to Diagon Alley. I knew that there was a chance something like this could have happened. But I also knew that you would do your best to take care of my sister. And you did." Harry gripped Hermione's hand. "I'm just sorry I didn't go with you myself. I should have been there to protect you both."

"Harry…" Hermione whispered. She couldn't find the words to say. She looked up and found him staring at her and her heart skipped a beat.

Harry, on the other hand felt like his heart was going to jump out of his chest. He was nervous, but didn't fully understand why.

"Harry! What happened?" Ron shouted as he ran into the infirmary.

"Yeah, its okay." Harry called back, not breaking eye contact with Hermione.

"I got here as soon as I could put back the Quidditch gear." He explained, running to where Hermione and Harry waited for Madame Pompfrey's return.

"What exactly happened?" Ron asked as he sat down on the bed with Hermione and Harry, staring at Janie. "Merlin, it looks like she's been through hell."

"Ronald!" Hermione scolded.

"Well she does, and she probably feels like it too, especially with that bump on her head." He said, quieting down.

No one could argue with what Ron said, and the group quieted, Hermione grimacing slightly trying to rearrange herself to sit more comfortably.

"…Just a slight bump on the head. Ms. Granger fared better, luckily. Sprained ankle." The doors to the infirmary burst open as Headmaster Dumbledore, Madame Pompfrey, and Remus Lupin entered.

Headmaster Dumbledore went to Janie's bedside and assessed her condition. He then glanced at Hermione, saying, "Ms. Granger, I hear you were quite an assistance to the Weasley brothers."

Hermione blushed, saying, "Actually, they were more of a help to us. Janie and I definitely wouldn't have survived if it weren't for Fred. He stopped Merkel as he was saying the killing curse."

Ron sighed and let out a low whistle. Madame Pompfrey shooed Harry and Ron from Hermione's bed and she went about healing Hermione's sprained ankle. She muttered an incantation and Hermione's ankle glowed a brilliant blue color for a moment and then faded.

"You should stay off your foot for a time, dear. Don't want you putting more pressure on it then there should be. Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley, I expect you to make sure she does."

"Of course, Madame Pompfrey." Harry said obediently as Hermione nodded. Harry had learned long ago to simply accept what she said, and disobey her after without her knowledge.

"How long will she be unconscious, Madame Pompfrey?" Ron inquired.

"There is no telling, Mr. Weasley. I'm sure that as soon as her concussion has healed, she will recover with little risk involved." Madame Pompfrey responded as she went back to her office to make some final notes on Janie's condition.

Remus and Headmaster Dumbledore were having their own conversation about the happenings at Diagon Alley. Harry listened in, curious as to how the Deatheaters had infiltrated Diagon Alley, and even blocked any route of escape possible.

Hermione listened in as well, wondering how the Deatheaters had blocked the enchantment procedure for portkeys.

"They might have been able to adapt a spell blocking enchantment and used it on charms used to create portkeys. We will have several order members look into the reasons for that. For the time being, I only hope to secure the information that we gain from the Deatheaters we've captured. Any information we can use will be helpful."

"I'll have Tonks put in charge of that bit." Remus nodded.

Madame Pompfrey cut in on Hermione's eavesdropping, saying, "Ms. Granger, I would like you to rest a bit before you leave the infirmary."

Hermione looked at her with wide eyes, "But Madame Pompfrey, I feel-"

"Regardless of how you feel, young lady" Madame Pompfrey stated, "I would like you to remain here so I know you will be off your foot for at least a small time."

Nodding her head in defeat, Hermione slumped back on her pillow.

Remus broke away from the conversation, overhearing Madame Pompfrey's orders to Hermione. "Madame Pompfrey's right, Hermione. You should rest before going anywhere."

Hermione nodded again, and Harry sat at the foot of her bed, facing Janie's bed. Ron did the same.

"Alright, everybody but the patients out of the room, please." Madame Pompfrey ordered.

"But we've just sat down." Ron muttered.

"Madame Pompfrey," Harry asked quietly, "is it alright if I stay for her?" He motioned to Janie.

Madame Pompfrey appeared as if she was going to deny Harry his request, but with a side-glance to Professor Dumbledore, who was giving her a pointed look, she simply nodded her head.

"But not you, Mr. Weasley." She finished.

Ron grumbled to himself, and Harry gave him a friendly slap on the back as he headed towards the infirmary doors.

The adults in the room excused themselves to the headmaster's office, and the twins joined Ron as he walked to the Great Hall for lunch. Hermione stifled a yawn, watching as Harry sighed and leaned back on his elbows, closing his eyes.

Hermione settled back into her bed and shivered. Situating herself in another position she shivered again. Her teeth chattered together, and she brought the blanket up to her chin.

"Hermione, what's the matter?" Harry asked as he glanced at her.

"Nothing, Harry." Hermione murmured as she tried to get warm again. Yet her chattering teeth continued and her body trembled involuntarily.

"Hermione, really, what's wrong?" Harry asked, sitting up.

"I don't know, Harry. I'm just really cold."

"Do you want another blanket?"

"I don't know if it will help." She responded through her shivers. "I think it is just the adrenaline leaving me, and its making me feel, I don't know, cold."

"Do you want me to call Madame Pompfrey?" Harry asked, concerned.

"No, she's done enough today." Hermione answered, "Thanks though, Harry."

"If you change your mind." Harry left the offer on the table, gaining an understanding nod from Hermione, who once again hitched the blanket around her shoulders, shivering again. Over time, her shivers lessened and her breathing evened out, becoming the rhythmic breathing of dreamers. Opening his eyes, Harry looked over to where Janie lie, and watched as she slept peacefully. A small blur of soot blemished her sleeping face, and the bump on her head was beginning to turn a soft shade of purple.

Sitting on the chair between Janie and Hermione's sleeping bodies, Harry resolved never to let any harm befall either of them again. Not if he could prevent it, and the only thing that could do that, was death. Feeling a sense of security in the unspoken promise to both Janie and Hermione, Harry relaxed in his uncomfortable infirmary seat, cleared his mind, and slowly dozed off.

A short time later, a small jolt woke him. It wasn't a jolt that one felt when falling out of a chair, but the jolt of something hitting him.

Cracking open one eye, he glanced at the source of the offending jolt and was able to trace it back to Janie, who was still sleeping yet trembling, mumbling to herself, her eyebrows creased in distress.

Feeling fully awake, Harry attempted to reach out and grab Janie's hand, yet Janie's hand once again swung towards Harry. Dodging the hand, Harry ducked and immediately fell from his seat onto the floor. He heard Janie's upset mumblings, which quickly progressed into cries of distress. Standing, Harry reached out to grab Janie's shoulders to try and rouse her from her apparent nightmare when Janie sat up abruptly screaming, "No!"

Harry, startled at Janie's sudden outburst simply stood in shock, not quite sure what to do.

Janie looked around the room with wide and panicked eyes, breathing in gasps. She looked up at Harry and mouthed something. Madame Pompfrey came running from her office to Janie's bedside. Before she could arrive, Janie's eyes rolled back and she promptly passed out.

"She- I- erh" Harry stuttered intelligibly.

"Night terror." Madame Pompfrey explained. "I'm sure you know what those are, Mr. Potter."

"All too well." Harry murmured in response. His frequent nightmares had made him fear sleep, for a time. Especially after Sirius' death; it had been almost impossible to bear.

Madame Pompfrey raised her wand and whispered a soft incantation, and Janie's face relaxed from one contorted by fright to one of peace. Writing a few notes down with her quill and parchment, she put her hand to Janie's forehead and then walked away, scribbling on the parchment.

Harry shook his head and pulled his seat closer to Janie's bed, reaching for her hand, gripping it gently. Guilt started building in his gut.

"Why does everything have to be so hard?" he asked no one in particular. It was impossible to maintain a relationship with friends, girls, and now even his sister. Glancing at Hermione, who was still in a fitful rest, he sighed, frustrated. His destiny was hurting those around him. It was one constant in his life. That damned prophecy, always making his life difficult.

Leaning his head down on the edge of Janie's bed, Harry squeezed his eyes shut. He heard a gentle noise from behind him and turned around, letting go of Janie's small hand.

Hermione blinked back the sleep from her eyes and sat up, smiling tiredly at Harry. Harry, in turn, smiled back and turned his chair around to face his best friend.

"Hello, Harry." Hermione whispered with a slight blush warming her face.

"Hey, how are you feeling?" He asked, concerned.

"Much better. How long was I sleeping?"

"Not long at all. I've only just woken up, Janie had a bad dream." He explained.

Hermione looked on in worry. She felt guilty as well, as she was responsible for Janie's traumatic run-in with the Deatheaters that had caused her injury and, consequently, an unpleasant stay in the infirmary with Madame Pompfrey, filled with what seemed to be unpleasant dreams. It had turned out to be a grand shopping trip.

"Remind me never to shop in Diagon Alley, eh?" Hermione muttered off-hand as she thought about it.

"What was that?" Harry asked, distracted by his thoughts, he hadn't caught the entire message.

"Oh…" Hermione mumbled, "I was just saying that I don't want to shop in Diagon Alley anymore."

"Definitely not." Harry explained with much resolution. "Its too dangerous. We should more than likely have one of the Order members get the materials Janie needs, and whatever books she needs, she can research them in the library."

Hermione looked at Harry in awe. He hated the library yet he was choosing it over Diagon Alley. Diagon Alley had the Quidditch supply store that Harry knew and loved, and Weasley Wizarding Wheezes, Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor. Yet now he wanted to avoid Diagon Alley, completely. Things were definitely starting to change.

"How are you doing, Hermione?" Harry asked, distracted.

"I'm alright, actually." She admitted, stretching in her small infirmary bed. She winced and put a hand to her ribs.

"Dolohov's curse?" Harry asked, moving closer to her.

She nodded her head, biting her lip. Harry grasped her hand until the pain receded.

"How often does it hurt?" He inquired, concerned.

"Not too often, Harry. Don't worry." She reassured him.

"I do worry, Hermione." Harry whispered. He reached for her hand again. "I don't want you to get hurt."

"Harry, it can't be helped. We're at war. There will be injuries. And worse." Hermione's voice faded to a whisper.

"It's not as if I don't know that, Hermione," Harry responded with a hint of anger, "but I refuse for you or Ron or Janie to be one of the people who are injured, or worse, killed. I can't lose you, any of you. Without you and Ron… I'm lost." He slumped into his chair with a defeated air.

Hermione was silent for a time.

"Harry… you know better than anyone what loss is. But you have to get through that. There are evil things in this world, evil people. We cannot afford to sit and watch idly as those people do horrific things to innocent beings. And if something does happen to me or Ron, or even Janie, it will not happen because we were indifferent; but because we stood for something, because we stand for what is good, what is righteous. And because we stand for you, Harry. And you are worth dying for." Hermione finished her passionate speech out of breath, in a whisper.

Harry squeezed Hermione's hand, not looking at her.

"Harry…" Hermione whispered, "you have to be strong; for all of us. Its terribly unfair, but we need you to be."

Harry closed his eyes and squeezed her hand again.

Moments passed, and a sound came from Janie's bed again. Harry and Hermione watched as Janie's hand went to her face and rubbed the sleep from her eyes. Janie slowly blinked and surveyed her surroundings.

From their location, Harry and Hermione heard a muttered, "Oh holy shit." Come from Janie's mouth, and Hermione stifled a snicker. Harry got up from his place on Hermione's bed and went to sit beside Janie.

Janie put her hand to her head, and with a whimper, said "Ow."

"How are you feeling, Janie?" Harry asked gently.

"Like I've been hit by a truck." She replied in a hoarse voice. She massaged her right hand, opening and closing it a few times.

"You were lucky. We all were, I suppose." Harry informed her, looking at Hermione. Janie said nothing, but continued nodding.

"Are trips to Diagon Alley always so exciting?" Janie asked in a sarcastic tone.

"No, usually they're somewhat boring." A voice broke in from the doorway of the infirmary.

"You just came on a good day." Another voice said, sounding remarkably similar to the one who had just spoken.

The Weasley twins and Ron approached the two bed-ridden girls and Harry. Each was carrying something behind their backs, and Hermione was highly curious to know exactly what those things were.

Looking at the now, teen-aged Janie, Fred and George let out a simultaneous whistle, causing Janie to turn a deep shade of red, challenging her auburn hair color.

"No wonder why they wanted to keep you a secret, Miss Janie." Fred said in a joking manner.

"Yes, especially from the likes of us. We're wicked boys, I must warn you." George continued.

"Fred, George, do you want to get to the point eventually?" Ron interrupted, rolling his eyes at his brothers' antics.

"But of course we do!" Fred announced.

"Miss Janie requested ice cream upon her unfortunate fainting episode." George continued, making Janie blush more.

"I didn't faint." Janie muttered, crossing her arms over her chest.

"And," Fred declared, "Miss Janie made it well known that she wanted Rainbow Sherbet ice cream. In being the two most creative twins in the greater United Kingdom, we hereby bequeath this ice cream (with a never melting or ending container) to Miss Janie Carver. Use it well, my dear." Ron set a three gallon barrel on the floor near where Janie was sitting, and her eyes threatened to fall out of her head.

"You – you got me ice cream?" Janie asked incredulously.

"Not just any ice cream," George corrected, "but everlasting ice cream. This barrel is specifically designed to never be empty. When it's almost empty, just say the 'magic words' and more ice cream will appear."

"I like this plan." Janie muttered, raising an eyebrow. "What's in it for you?"

"Dear child!" Fred exclaimed, feigning offense. "How can you ask us our hidden motivations when we have given you this exquisite gift?"

"Because she's smart." Ron answered, rolling his eyes. The twins glared at him.

"Don't mind our younger, misguided brother, dear Janie." George shot back, still glaring at Ron.

"Yes, he's just upset because he wanted the rainbow sherbet ice cream for himself." Fred finished.

Once again, Ron rolled his eyes, and said, "They just want to know why you're a secret and they think giving you a lifetime supply of ice cream will help."

"Ron, we are astonished at your thought process, and are greatly troubled by your lack of faith in us."

"Yes, we would like to make it known that we also brought Hermione mint chocolate chip for her... if it will help make her want to tell us." George set down another three-gallon container on the ground.

"And we brought Harry strawberry ice cream as well." Fred said, "So you have two choices really."

"Yes, you can either accept our most gracious gift and tell us why Janie is so, well, secret." George gave their ultimatum.

"Or we'll just have to beg." Fred added, "Which we really don't want to do."

"Sorry, boys." Hermione snickered, "It's definitely not my secret to tell."

Harry thought for a moment and looked at Janie, who shrugged in return.

"Ron, put a silencing charm on the room." Harry commanded. Ron immediately set about his chore.

"Harry," Hermione looked at him.

"I know." He responded without looking at her. "They're family. They have a right to know as well."

Janie cocked an eyebrow.

The twins stole chairs from the infirmary waiting area and brought them back to Janie and Hermione's bedside. Like two children waiting for a bedtime story, they eagerly anticipated Harry's explanation.

"Oi! Ron, hurry up with those charms, will you?" George shouted.

"Shut up, you git. I just finished, and I'll have you know that if it weren't for me you two wouldn't even be in this infirmary." Ron reminded them of his prefect badge allowing him access to the infirmary since Janie had finally awoken.

"All right, enough nonsense," Hermione shushed them all, nodding to Harry.

"Right..." Harry told the tale of how Janie had come to be among the students at Hogwarts, and how he had come to discover his long lost sister. The twins' eyes grew large, and frequently turned to Janie, who was sitting idly on her bed, growing increasingly bored of the topic. It wasn't that she wasn't interested in her own history, but being spoken of like she was not even in the room was a bit frustrating.

"So she's... Janie is..." George stuttered.

"Wow." Fred finished.

"Yup, that is exactly what I was going to say." George agreed.

Harry, Hermione and Ron all nodded simultaneously. Janie looked out a window, not particularly caring about the twins' response. She felt a cool breeze from an open window, and she closed her eyes.

"Well then I think that means she deserves a lot more credit than just ice cream, wouldn't you say, Fred?" George stood up. Janie returned her attention as a result of his sudden movements.

"Why of course, George." Fred responded as he stood up as well. Reaching into his pocket, Fred removed a small pouch.

"Inside my dear brothers' marble pouch is a sampling of all of our products, my dear, dear Janie." George declared, as Fred bowed.

"Samples?" Janie asked, grinning despite her cynicism. Just how many samples could they fit into a tiny bag?

"Not just any samples," Fred started,

"But Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes samples." George finished.

"All of our items are listed on Filch's 'Ode to Contraband,'" George explained.

"Which makes them all the more useful!" Fred exclaimed.

Janie grinned despite herself, and bit her lower lip. "So, what do I do, exactly?"

George held the pouch out to her, and explained, "Just reach in, and you can have whatever you grab."

"Free of charge, of course." Fred finished.

Janie put her hand inside the pouch, expecting to find nothing in the pouch except the cloth at the bottom. Yet her entire hand was inside the pouch, and she still felt no cloth, just air. Confused and curious, she put her forearm in the small pouch, and with wide eyes, she pushed her entire arm in the pouch, all the way up to her shoulder.

"You're supposed to grab something." Fred explained to her as if he was talking to a two-year old.

"I just wanted to see how far I could get in there." Janie grumbled. Finally, her fingers wrapped around something and she pulled it out.

A pair of what seemed to be headphones came out of the pouch, but they weren't headphones. Janie looked at them closely.

"Extendable ears." Ron told her.

"They're very useful in hearing whatever people don't want you to hear." George clarified.

"Oh." Janie replied as she set the Extendable Ear down on the table next to her bed.

"Thank you very much for your gift. I, er, guess I'll need it, eventually." She told them, eyeing her ice cream.

"Its not a problem, little Potter." Fred said, thankfully very quietly.

"And if you ever need anything, you let us know. We're practically family, after all." George informed her.

Janie nodded and remembered, "Oh, and thanks for the ice cream. I'll definitely be able to use that."

"Who wouldn't be able to use a vat of inexhaustible ice cream?" George asked, conjuring a bowl and a spoon. Serving a portion of rainbow sherbet, he gave the bowl to Janie.

Harry conjured his own bowl and spoon, as did Hermione. Harry took both from Hermione and served her mint chocolate chip, to which Janie grimaced.

"Sorry," Janie explained, "I just can't do the mint and chocolate combination."

Hermione looked at Janie as if she said she had seen a Horn-billed Snorcackle.

Harry snickered, eating his own ice cream quietly.

Ron, Fred, and George all sampled from each of the three ice cream vats and then had a colorful conversation on which flavor was the best.

Janie, however, tuned them out and looked out at the afternoon sky. Her second day at Hogwarts was passing, and she had already been attacked by Deatheaters, had a concussion, a broken wrist, and a supply of never ending ice cream. She poked her spoon into her rainbow sherbet and brought it to her lips, the flavor tickling her lips, reminding her of a different time when she believed herself to be safe, with Eric. And despite her current situation and aching head, she smiled.

"I believe, dear brother, that we have succeeded in making the dear Janie smile." Fred announced.

Before George could add to Fred's embarrassing declaration, Janie broke in with a sarcastic, "Shove it up your arse, Fred."

A moment of shocked silence passed, and slowly Ron started chuckling, followed by Harry, and Hermione, and finally Fred and George, with awed expressions on their faces.

"I think she'll do just fine here." Hermione stuttered out.

Janie felt herself laugh quietly, which turned into a giggle, and Janie felt happiness run through her body for what seemed like the first time in a long time. And for the first time ever, Harry heard his sister laugh.

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

**Yay to everyone who reviewed the story! I really appreciate them, and even though Ducky isn't really writing the story, she does too, only because it validates what she tells me everyday… that I am a literary genius (not really, she just tells me that, I know I'm not….. trust me, I know I'm not).**

**The Alphie Paradox: Thanks so much, and I promise I'll update more often.  
****InnocentGuilt: Wowzers! You're like, the fanfiction nazi (but that's not a bad thing, trust me)! I think I made a new friend, and I promise I will try to rectify my error in having the story in my head instead of on the Internet. I'm working on it, I swear. But honestly, let me know if you have _any_ words of criticism thus far. Thanks!  
****HarrysGurl: I'm trying, really I am, but moving sucks (did you know?) and my papers are scattered everywhere and my laptop broke, but it's fixed now! So other than those crises, not much else can stop my updating process.  
****Phantom of the Theatre: Thanks, and I can't wait for you to read the next one.**

**Until next time, Ducky pleads with me in saying, "REVIEW OR WE WON'T HAVE ANYTHING TO LIVE FOR!" Seriously, we won't.**


	9. Lessons

**Dreamsweeper:Um, hi! I know it's been awhile, but here's chapter 9.  
**_**Ducky:Finally.  
**_**Dreamsweeper:Hey, I got it out as soon as I could, okay?  
**_**Ducky:Yeah, sure. Whatever.  
**_**Dreamsweeper:I don't like your tone.  
**_**Ducky:Well maybe I don't like your updating schedule. Ever think about that?  
**_**Dreamsweeper:Maybe I don't like it either, but I did what I could, okay?  
**_**Ducky:Oh. Okay. In that case, good job, lady.  
**_**Dreamsweeper:Thank you. Now, to everyone else who is still reading this, enjoy!**

**Saving Grace – Chapter 9 "Lessons"**

_A crouching figure stooped low before a darkened chair. The only sounds that could be heard in the room aside of the crackling fire was that of a quiet shredding, what sounded like the tearing of cloth in two, or what the people in the hall knew as the shedding of snakeskin._

_"M-master," the crouching figure stuttered in fear, "we were unable to retrieve any information about the girl. But we d-."_

_"Silence!" An ominous figure commanded, shrouded by shadows. "I grow weary of your pathetic excuses, Avery. You failed in not only one, but two overwhelmingly simple tasks."_

_The stooped figure did not protest the accusations, knowing full well the consequences of such a protestation._

_"I have become tired of your inability to accomplish simple chores. I must confess that I had more hope for your wretched existence. Therefore, I-"_

_"Please, my Lord!" Avery begged, knowing his life was forfeit. "I am your loyal servant. The girl was warned and received aid from Dumbledore, I am sure of it! And the task of retrieving hostages in Diagon Alley was foiled by-."_

_Avery was once again interrupted, not by words, but by hissing. Avery quaked in his robes, tears streaming down his trembling face behind his mask. The sounds of shedding snakeskin grew louder, as Nagini slithered toward him._

_"My master, I beg of you to reconsider." Avery pleaded one last time._

_"I tire of this nonsense. Lucius, approach me." A man standing by the wall of the shadowy hall made his way toward the darkened throne. He passed Avery, who was already wrestling with the twelve and a half foot snake, Nagini. Lucius heard the snapping of bones as Avery was crushed to death, the breath leaving his body with only a single primal scream, suffocating on the blood that was quickly pooling in his lungs._

_"Lucius, my servant." Two red eyes pierced through the darkness._

_"Yes, my Lord." The man knelt down before the throne. Avery's body was slowly disappearing into Nagini's dislocated jaws._

_"I want you to find this girl. She is at Hogwarts, this I am sure of. Avery may have failed, but his information was correct."_

_"My Lord." Lucius spoke in affirmation of the information._

_"Your son, Draco." The two red eyes watched as the elder Malfoy nodded in understanding. "Be sure that he does not fail me."_

_"I will see to it that he does not, my Lord."_

_"Away, servant." Lucius rose, turned, and walked past the remains of Avery, a brown lace-up shoe, lying askew in a small puddle of blood. The fire continued to glow.

* * *

_

Miles away, a young man walked back to his dormitory from the infirmary, accompanied by a set of twins, a Quidditch captain, the Head Girl and a new student. The Head Girl was, of course, limping, and being assisted by the young man in question.

"It would make more sense, Harry," Fred started,

"To put the Head Dormitories by the infirmary." George finished.

"Yes, much less walking as a whole." Ron added.

"Does he go there often?" Janie asked no one in particular.

"I heard a rumor they'll change the infirmary to the 'Harry Potter Ward' after he graduates." Ron murmured. "He's there for at least a week every year. It's his home away from home."

Janie shivered at the prospect of staying in the infirmary for an extended period of time.

"I don't like infirmaries." She muttered.

"Why not?" Ron asked.

"I dunno. I just don't like them." Janie shrugged. Ron raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"It's the smell." Janie finished, unable to explain it better. Ron, however, knew better than to pursue a conversation about fears with a Gryffindor. It was almost as productive as explaining the concept of compassion to a Slytherin.

"When will you start your tutorials, Janie?" Hermione asked.

"I suppose I start on Monday," Janie replied "but I don't know what I'll do since we didn't get to buy a wand."

"A perplexing thought, I must say, Ms. Carver." Came Dumbledore's voice from the end of the hallway, in front of the centaur painting, a bit away from where the small group of people stood. "Yet I believe I have a solution to that."

Headmaster Dumbledore spoke the password, and entered into the Head Common Room, followed by Harry, Janie, Hermione, Ron and the twins.

"I suppose you've been in here before, am I correct?" Hermione spoke upon seeing the twins' lack of reaction to their new common room.

"It was one of the easier places to get to, considering what an oaf Percy is." George informed her.

"Not difficult at all, especially with Harry's cloak." Fred snickered.

Dumbledore's eyes twinkled merrily as he drew something from his pocket. A wand. To Janie, it was a strikingly familiar wand.

"Does this look familiar to you, Ms. Carver?" Dumbledore asked.

Janie nodded her head, not sure of what to say. It was the wand that she had pulled from one of the many dusty boxes in Mr. Ollivander's shop, and which she had used to help stun the Deatheater who attacked both she and Hermione.

"Tell me, Ms. Carver," Dumbledore continued, "how did you find this wand?"

Startled at the question, Janie cleared her throat and hesitantly replied, "I, er, just saw a box and I wanted to know what was inside of it. And when I opened it, that wand was inside, and so I used it."

"What happened when you first used it, Ms. Carver?" Dumbledore pressed, the twinkle in his eye growing merrier.

"It, well," Janie spluttered, not knowing what to say, "it kind of exploded with red and yellow sparkles."

Dumbledore nodded in understanding, and then said, "I believe this belongs to you, Ms. Carver." He held it out to Janie. "Mr. Ollivander said that he found this on the floor of the basement in which yourself and Ms. Granger took refuge in. Apparently you used it in a time of great need."

Immediately, Janie began pleading for understanding. "I swear, I didn't want to use it off of school grounds, and I know Hermione said that doing that was bad, but -"

"Ms. Carver, you are not in trouble." Dumbledore interrupted.

"You mean you're not going to punish me?" She asked.

"I don't see why I should, as you were acting in self defense." Dumbledore responded.

"Oh." Janie replied quite surprised. "So then what was it you wanted to talk to me about?" Janie asked for clarification.

"For helping defend his store, Mr. Ollivander is giving you this wand, with the assurance that next time you need an escape, he will have one ready."

"He- he's _giving_ me this wand?" Janie stuttered, shocked at Mr. Ollivander's generosity.

"Mr. Ollivander and I both believe that the wand chooses the owner, and it is by no coincidence that you found this wand." Dumbledore explained. "It has happened before that a wand calls to a witch or wizard, in order to unite with them in a time of great conflict, fear, or stress. You and Ms. Granger were about to be attacked. It was for that reason that you were called to this wand."

Janie merely stared at Dumbledore, and nodded wordlessly without an expression on her face. She saw that Dumbledore was holding the wand for her to take, so she slowly reached out and felt her fingers curl around the wood, and felt a warm sensation run through her body. She smiled, and looking at Headmaster Dumbledore mouthed the words, "Thank you."

He nodded in understanding.

"Now, I'm sure that all of you have much to discuss. And Ms. Carver, Professor McGonagall tells me that you will begin your private tutoring with me tomorrow."

"Already?" Janie questioned in surprise, "I didn't think it would start this soon, but okay."

"Excellent," Headmaster Dumbledore spoke. "I expect you should be getting a fair bit of rest."

"Thanks for the tip." Janie said dryly.

"Good day." With that, Dumbledore departed.

The group of students and former students stood silent for a moment before Fred let out a low whistle. "You're starting tutoring tomorrow, eh?"

"I guess so," Janie sighed, slipping out of her English accent, "I guess it's best if I get started sooner rather than later."

"Absolutely," Hermione agreed, "and I think I have just the book for you to start out on." Hermione led Janie over to one of the many bookcases in the common room, leaving Harry, Ron and the twins to stand and talk amongst themselves.

"So Harry," Fred smirked, "you're Janie's keeper now."

"Yes, and Fred and I are dying to know," George continued.

"Exactly how long before you let Janie date?" Fred finished.

Immediately, a gigantic weight was added to Harry's already heavy load. He had never even considered his sister's love life, and a melee of questions attacked his mind at once, such as, 'Is she even old enough to date?' 'What if she had a boyfriend in California?' or 'if the twins make one move on her, how badly should I injure them?' He glanced over to where Janie and Hermione were poring over large books on the history of different magical eras. He felt his scar twinge just a bit, but brushed the familiar feeling aside.

"Earth-to-Harry!" George shouted, and Harry saw Hermione and Janie's attention fly back over to him, where they saw him staring at the both of them. Blushing, he focused on George again.

"You didn't exactly answer us, Harry." George nudged him.

"Yes, dearest Harry, when exactly will you-" Fred started.

"Let us take little Janie out for a date?" George finished.

Harry choked on the idea, and his mind sputtered for an answer.

"Let him alone." Ron defended him. "Remember we have a little sister, too. And you're both more than over-protective of her."

"Speak for yourself, ickle Ronniekins." George retorted.

"Amen, brother." Fred agreed. "You are her own self-designated body guard."

"Judge." George added.

"And jury." Harry muttered in addition.

Ron quickly turned to Harry, astonished, "You too! And here I was defending you!"

"What? It's true, Ron. You don't even wait to hear Ginny say if she likes a boy. You just jinx him right off the bat." Harry laughed.

"Yeah, well… so?" Ron returned, thoroughly disgruntled. "How long exactly before you let her date, Harry?" Ron attempted in getting even with Harry, succeeding, because once again, Harry was confronted with the idea of different boys, or even men, behaving, erh, inappropriately with his sister. His face grew red and slightly furious at the idea. He vaguely heard the sound of the younger half of the Weasley males laughing at him. He jokingly pushed Ron aside as he went to join Janie and Hermione, who were surely too mature to tease him for his role of the overprotective brother.

When he reached the two girls by the stacks of books, Hermione lifted an eyebrow at his approach, and smiled mischievously at him, knowing full well of what the twins and Ron were teasing him for. Despite the overwhelming urge to poke fun at Harry as well, Hermione quelled her inner demon and went back to advising Janie as to which book she should begin reading to before her tutoring started.

Janie already had a large amount of books in her arms, and she struggled to remain standing, as Hermione kept pulling out book after book, exclaiming how good they were, and then piling it onto Janie's load.

"I think she's about ready for tomorrow." Hermione announced proudly.

Janie's knees buckled, and she stumbled towards the nearest desk, pouring the large heap of books on top of it. The legs of the desk creaked, and Janie wiped a small trickle of sweat from her brow.

Harry wouldn't have ever told Janie, but he was slightly amused by her plight. Janie was defenseless against Hermione's onslaught of tutorials, and with her taking up Hermione's time, Hermione would be less able to keep an eye of his own work, and more than likely, Ron's.

Feeling Harry's eyes on her back, Hermione turned, and eyed Harry. Harry instinctively turned his head another direction, although not as casually as he had intended. Hermione rolled her eyes and sat down in the chair closest to the desk Janie had poured her books onto.

An awkward moment of silence passed and Fred cleared his throat.

"Well this has been quite entertaining, but I believe we should be getting back to what is left of our shop."

George nodded. "Salvage what we can. Can we use your floo, Harry?"

Harry shrugged, "I don't see why you can't."

The twins strode over, in unison, to the fireplace, and both grabbed a handful of floo powder from the small canister atop the mantle. With a quick wave to Harry, Hermione and Ron, and a sly wink to Janie, they both shouted, "Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes!" And then they were gone.

"Well," Janie muttered, "they seem like fun fellows."

"You have no idea." Harry, Hermione and Ron all said at the same time.

Much to Janie's chagrin, and Hermione's pleasure, the next day came with great swiftness. Before Janie knew it, she was being ushered through a hurried breakfast, and then to Professor Dumbledore's office for her very first tutorial. By the time she and Hermione reached Dumbledore's door, Hermione was practically bouncing off the walls.

"I can't wait for you to learn everything that we've learned here, it will be _so_ amazing for you. And we can have discussions on magical history, and discuss Arithmancy, and transfiguration and-"

"Ah, Ms. Granger," Dumbledore interrupted, "what a pleasure to have you accompany Ms. Carver to her first tutorial."

Hermione blushed, "I figured that Janie may want to have an escort whilst she is in Hogwarts, seeing as her identity is so fragile."

"I believe you may be right, Ms. Granger." Dumbledore smiled. "But for now, we will simply use the floo when traveling between my office and your dormitories."

Both Hermione and Janie nodded, agreeing with Dumbledore's safety precaution. There was too much risk involved with being seen too much around Dumbledore's office.

Hermione glanced down at her watch and gasped. "Bullocks! I was supposed to meet my study group five minutes ago! Those Ravenclaws are going to be furious with me." Grabbing her satchel, she smiled at Janie.

"You'll do fine, and I look forward to hearing all about what you go over today!" With that, a frazzled Hermione ran out of Dumbledore's office, leaving a bewildered and amused Dumbledore behind.

Janie turned back to sit in her usual seat, and plopped down in it, bringing out a sheet of parchment and a quill. She wasn't exactly familiar with using a quill, but she supposed it couldn't be too difficult.

"Now, Ms. Carver," Professor Dumbledore began, "what shall we discuss today?"

* * *

Four hours later found Harry in the head Common room, leafing through a Quidditch magazine with one hand, and turning the pages of an advanced potions book with the other hand. Unsurprisingly, he was finding the Quidditch magazine tremendously more interesting. Yet despite his larger interest in the Quidditch magazine, he was finding himself distracted by something else altogether: Janie.

The thought of her plagued his mind. He had been thinking about the significance of her existence even more frequently since the attack at Diagon Alley that almost left both she and Hermione dead. It wasn't as if he was upset by her presence in the world, or even at Hogwarts, but it definitely hindered his plan to destroy Voldemort without any hitches. If she were to be captured, hurt, or, Merlin forbid, killed, it would alter the course of the Order's entire campaign. Her continued presence at Hogwarts would be difficult to conceal. If any of the wrong students saw her with him too often, those students would know to tell their superior Death Eaters, who in turn would tell Voldemort, giving away her location, destroying any effort for anonymity. There were few ways to ensure that that would never happen, and the most feasible one, avoid public contact with Janie, was also going to prove to be the most difficult.

Harry had never had a sister before, and the only example he had ever seen of brotherly conduct was that of the Weasley's. And the Weasley brothers had always made it their business to publicly protect, and sometimes humiliate the Weasley sister. This would simply not do.

So that afternoon, Harry ultimately decided, halfway through a magnificently boring chapter of Advanced NEWT Potions and an intriguing article on the new Starburst broom line, that he would not pay any attention to Janie outside of their common room. After all, in Harry's mind, the way to remain an anonymous relative to someone was to neglect him or her completely; in that case, Janie.

The common room door opened, and Hermione came barreling through with her satchel heavy with books. Tossing it on the nearest desk, she groaned and grimaced, and started pacing across the common room. Harry broke out of his reverie, and watched wide-eyed as his best friend made inhuman sounds of agony.

"Hermione," Harry asked, preparing to duck incase she threw anything, "is everything alright?"

"Five minutes late!" Hermione shouted, her face growing flush with anger, "I was only five minutes late, and the Ravenclaws decided to kick me out of their study group! I had to spend four hours in the library and go through all of the books by myself, and even bring these books back, because I was five bloody minutes late!"

Harry was astonished at Hermione's foul language. He had never seen her so angry before. Well, no, he couldn't say that. But this was one of the rare times that she was letting her anger get the best of her. Standing with his wand readily available in his pocket, he eased toward her. Hermione stood in the middle of the common room, angrily pulling on a strand of hair and muttering obscenities about Ravenclaws. Calmly, Harry put his hand on her shoulder and turned her around. Hermione's edge immediately receded and her mutterings ceased. Ashamed, she looked down at her feet.

"I'm overreacting, aren't I?" She whispered, not really asking.

Harry rolled his eyes and smiled. "Just a bit."

Hermione narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms. Harry's grip on his wand grew tighter. He was not afraid to petrify her, although he would most likely regret it later. Fortunately, the tension faded and Hermione sighed in frustration. Harry sidled up next to her, wrapping his arm around her shoulder. Hermione sniffed.

"I'm a complete loon, aren't I?" She asked.

"No!" Harry half-lied. Feeling the need for ridiculous behavior, his voice became pompous and comical. "You are one hundred percent sane, Ms. Granger, and no Ravenclaw is going to kick you out of their study group for being five minutes late! Why, I shall go down unto said library and curse each one of them until there is no longer breath in their lungs!" Harry moved to head out of the common room, waving his wand around.

"Harry." Hermione tried to interrupt in a dry voice.

"I shan't let the accursed and maliciously intelligent Ravenclaws get away with such behavior, not with the head girl! I-"

"Harry!" Hermione interrupted him, still standing in the middle of the common room, with little amusement on her face.

"What?" Harry asked, a smile begging to be let forth.

"Don't forget to display their heads atop the bookcases as warning for any others who wish to kick me out of their group."

Harry's bravado crumbled, as well as Hermione's angry exterior, and both dissolved into laughter. Harry staggered back to the center of the room, where Hermione was clutching her stomach and busily wiping away tears that were forming in the corners of her eyes.

Harry tried in vain to stop laughing, but upon looking at Hermione's doubled over body, he started laughing again. He sat back on the floor in the hopes of his laughter subsiding, and Hermione fell onto the floor beside him, lying on her back, her stomach bouncing with each laugh, which made Harry laugh more. Following Hermione's lead, he leaned back and attempted to stop laughing, yet the image of him in a destroyed library, standing on a pile of books and rubble with the Gryffindor banner waving behind him did not aid in his endeavor to compose himself.

"My knight in shining armor." Hermione giggled as her laughter continued to bubble over.

"Does that make you my damsel in distress?" Harry shot back at her, thoroughly hitting one of her buttons.

"I'll show you distress, Potter." Hermione growled, promptly reaching over and pinning him down to the floor. In a defensive maneuver, Harry wrenched his arm free and attacked Hermione's sides, making her plead for mercy from his tickling onslaught. Once he had the upper hand, he pinned her down to the ground and leaned over her, victorious. All at once, their laughter ceased and with dazed expressions, they were simply staring at each other, trying hard to breathe.

"Harry –" Hermione whispered nervously, her breath caught in her chest.

And then the moment was lost. Harry blinked, let go of Hermione's shoulders and promptly sat up. A thoroughly awkward moment passed between the two. The clock struck the hour and Hermione jumped up.

"I've got to finish studying! I've got a three-foot parchment due tomorrow in Arithmancy and I've yet to edit my third draft. I'll see you later!" With that she hurried out of the room. Five seconds later, she came back into the common room and retrieved her book bag. "It'd be good if I remembered this." She rambled, and backed out of the room, bumping into a chair.

Harry sat on the floor still, still in shock as to what _almost _had just happened.

"Bloody hell." He muttered Ron's favorite curse.

A snap came from the fireplace and Janie walked into the common room.

"I like that a bit better than those long floo trips." She declared, flopping into an armchair.

"Yeah, me too." Harry agreed, still staring at where Hermione had exited the room.

"How was your day?" Janie asked.

Harry looked over at his little sister, who was holding a book bag of perhaps seven books and was loaded with parchments. He glanced back to Hermione's exit.

"Confusing."

* * *

On Monday, Janie's two weeks of private tutorials with Professor Flitwick inevitably began and Janie spent every waking moment in either the library or in Professor Flitwick's office after he had finished his classes, going over various charms that Janie seemed to enjoy learning about. She caught on to the charms with relative ease, and after the first three days, had already caught on to the levitating charm, the unlocking charm, and the "Enflamare" charm. Her rate of progress pleased Hermione, who was keeping track of Janie's studies by a chart that she kept in their common room. When Janie learned something new, a small glowing star appeared next to the subject. Janie felt childish, but excited every time she saw the chart, and she felt a small sense of pride in how much she was learning in so short a time span. It made her want to learn faster, and that made Hermione smile even more.

Harry seemed to be as busy as ever with classes, Quidditch, his Head Boy duties, homework, and frequent private lessons with Dumbledore. He almost had a good excuse to never really talk to his sister, or ask how she was faring in her studies. Hermione was taking care of her, and that seemed well enough for the time being. And to this, Janie pretended to pay no mind.

The week ended, and Janie's chart was sparkling with charms stars. Ron entered the Head Common room and rolled his eyes, muttering about homework nazis, and brainwashing schemes. Janie smiled and continued to read her charms book. She was going through each chapter methodically, reading the theory, and practicing her charms continuously.

"Don't you ever want a break?" Ron asked as he sat down in the chair across from her.

"I get breaks, thanks." Janie responded.

"How long, thirty seconds?" Ron questioned sarcastically.

"Forty-five seconds, actually." Janie replied smartly. "And I don't mind studying this stuff. If I want to learn as much as I can within the two weeks they've given me with each professor, I have to study as much as I can."

Ron stared at her with a sickened expression. "You've been around Hermione too much."

Janie was taken aback by his comment. Pausing, she sat back in her chair and thought for a second.

"I've been studying by my own free-will." She told herself.

Looking at Ron, she wrinkled her forehead in distress. "It's Friday night, and I'm studying. What's wrong with me?"

"Like I said, you've been hanging around Hermione too long." Ron paused. "Have you even seen the castle yet?"

"Wait – " Janie stopped him, "we're in a castle?"

Ron's eyes widened with incredulity.

Janie laughed, "I'm joking Ronald. I know we're in a castle."

"Thank Merlin. I actually believed you were serious. But you've never actually been around anywhere, have you?"

"Can't say I have, save Dumbledore's office, Flitwick's office, this place and the infirmary." Janie shivered at the mention and memory of the infirmary.

"Well then we must fix this right away. Besides, its dinner and I'm starving." Ron turned about face and opened the portrait door. "After you."

Janie hesitantly approached the doorway and paused.

"Are you coming or not?" Ron asked impatiently.

Janie looked back at the common room where her books were scattered over the table and some on the floor.

"Yes." She answered resolutely. With that, they made their way down the hallway to the staircase. Janie had ventured to the library and back to the common room before, but only when all the students were in class. It was then that Janie saw a large group of students walking into the entrance hall, and into the Great Hall for dinner. Her stomach started to feel like there were butterflies hatching inside.

"Ron," she grabbed his arm and whispered, "they've never seen me before. What if they know?"

Ron almost jumped out of his skin when she latched onto his arm, but he turned around to face her. "Look, chances are that no one will even guess who you are. In a million years even. I still have trouble believing it myself. So don't worry about it." He went behind her and gave her a gentle push that forced her to proceed down the remaining stairs.

Janie took a deep breath and held it, not knowing what to expect. Their feet left the last stair, and they were immediately intermingled with a multitude of students, none of whom seemed interested in who Janie was, or what she was doing at Hogwarts. She let the breath go, and her stomach started to return to normal.

"Where's everyone going?" Janie asked Ron in a lowered whisper.

"To dinner in the Great Hall."

"Is that where we're going?" She asked with trepidation.

"If you stop pulling me backwards, and walk towards the Great Hall, yes. So move, because I'm starving." He nodded and pushed her along with the crowd into the dining hall.

Janie's hear rate accelerated, and she was sure someone would shout something about her heritage or relationship with Harry, and closed her eyes and simply let herself be pulled along with the talking teenagers around her. Finally she felt Ron pull her to the side of the flow of people.

"Are you alright?" He asked concerned, raising an eyebrow. Janie still didn't open her eyes.

"I don't want people to suspect anything, I guess." She admitted lamely, as she slowly opened her eyes and looked around. All at once, her cares about the other students vanished, as she was able to look at the night sky projected onto the hall ceiling, and the thousands of floating candles in the air.

"Oh my –" She breathed, but was cut off by Ron, who pushed her onto the bench near where they were standing.

"Don't look amazed, it'll be too obvious." He told her under his breath. Sitting next to her, he started piling things onto his plate and poured a goblet of pumpkin juice for himself. He began devouring all of his food in the blink of an eye, not really stopping to actually taste the food. Janie simply stared at him.

Looking back at her, he raised his eyebrow, and asked "W-what?"

"Nothing." Janie shook her head. "Hey, can you pass those rolls?"

Dinner was not as frightening as Janie had feared it to be. She became engrossed in a conversation with Ron about Quidditch. Actually, he quite nearly spit his pumpkin juice out of his nose when she asked what Quidditch was.

"You mean nobody has told you about Quidditch yet?" He whispered heatedly.

Janie wrinkled her eyebrow, "No. I haven't exactly asked about it yet. I haven't had the time until just now."

As calmly as Ron possibly could, he explained the rules and details of Quidditch to Janie, who's eyes became wider and wider as he described how it felt to ride on a broom. Their conversation lingered until there were only a handful of students left in the Great Hall.

"Ron, what time is it?" She asked, suddenly panicked.

"It's almost curfew." He replied offhandedly.

"What?" Janie screeched as she got up. "Hermione and Harry don't know I'm out here."

"Bullocks, lets go." Ron muttered as they exited the Great Hall as quickly as possible. They crossed the entrance hall and ran up the stairs. Reaching the portrait, Janie nearly shouted the password, and fell through the doorway, out of breath.

"I can't believe I stayed out this late." She laughed nervously as she looked around the common room.

"I can't believe you stayed out this late either." Harry was standing in front of the fireplace, hands on the mantle, staring at the fire. Hermione sat on the couch, hands folded in her lap. Janie shut her eyes, and braced herself for some kind of verbal reprimanding.

"Sorry Harry, we were –" Ron started.

"In the Great Hall, I know." Harry interrupted still staring at the fire, "I looked at the map."

"What map?" Janie asked, intrigued.

Harry ignored her question and cut to his point. "Don't stay out this late anymore, Janie. We can't risk anyone finding out about you, and you blend in more when there are more people around. Not only that, but people are less willing to make a scene when there's a crowd."

Janie stood in front of him a bit shocked. "Okay." She spoke softly. Harry was still in front of the fire, looking intently at it. "Good-night." She waved to Ron, and walked down the hallway to her room.

After Ron heard the door shut, he sat down next to Harry.

"What was that all about?" Ron asked him.

"What was what?" Harry murmured.

"What was that 'Don't stay out this late' nonsense? Like you have never been out past curfew or later than that before." Ron shot at him.

"It's different with Janie." Harry shook his head, not taking his eyes off the fire.

"How?" Ron pressed.

Harry blinked at that question, and looked at Ron.

"The same way why it's different for Ginny. Not even that," Harry looked at the ceiling, "because at least Ginny can protect herself. Janie has absolutely no idea how to defend herself against someone like Malfoy or Parkinson, or even Goyle."

"Harry, no one knows about Janie." Ron tried to convince Harry, patting his shoulder.

"Yet." Harry added.

"Alright, yet. And when that happens," Ron continued, "then none of us will ever let Janie out of our sights."

"We can't let it get to that point. I won't let it." Harry murmured, turning his eyes back to the fire.

"Alright. We've got Quidditch practice tomorrow morning, so I'm turning in." Ron stood up, yawned and stretched. "You better get some rest too." He added to Harry.

"Yeah, okay." Harry agreed mindlessly, still staring. He heard Ron leave, and heard Hermione get up from the couch and say goodnight. Harry continued to gaze into the fire. Slowly, the fire lulled him to sleep.

Harry dreamed, despite his knowledge that dreams for him were not always the best of ideas.

He dreamt that he was in a castle that he was not familiar with, and inside a room that it was hard to see in. He heard someone singing a soft song that sounded like a lullaby, along with something that sounded like shredding paper. And something was sliding along the floor. Looking around, he saw a brown lace up shoe lying on the floor. All at once, Harry's scar seared.

_"I know you're there, Potter." _He heard a voice in his mind, _"I know your sister is as well. And I'm going to make her scream and beg for death before I'm done with her Potter. And you will be watching."_ With that, Voldemort threw Harry out of his mind. Harry awoke on the floor beside the fireplace.

The room was dark, and the fire had grown dim. Harry quickly wiped the sweat off his brow and stood up. Hastily, he made his way to Janie's bedroom, and opened the door. The sound of her quiet breathing calmed him, and Harry gently made his way to her bedside. He watched as she dreamed, and her eyebrows wrinkled and then relaxed. Janie rolled on her side, and Harry silently left her side, and closed the door.

"Harry!" Hermione whispered from her doorway, catching him off guard. "What are you doing?"

"Nothing," Harry replied quietly. "I just wanted to make sure she was alright."

"You should get some sleep." Hermione whispered.

Sighing, Harry could only say, "Thanks for the tip." Harry walked past Hermione and across the common room into his own room. Shaking his head, he fell down on his bed and stared at the ceiling until the sun rose.

* * *

Authors Notes:

Just wanted to say "thanks" to a few people!

**DBZfan2004: **Thanks, I'll try to keep it up. If you ever need any cookies, let me know. Oh, and keep reviewing.  
**Pattenrond2: **Wow… you give really good reviews. I thought about making Janie live in England throughout her childhood, but I just couldn't see the McZinnie's staying in England where a lot of people knew them (since Ted was famous and everything), and so I had them move to the states, specifically California. Besides, where else is Janie supposed to fall in love with In-n-out?  
**FredLover:** I hope you're still alive! I'm sorry it took so long to get the next chapter out. I swear I'll try to do better next time.  
**Hermione-Potter-52306: **I sure hope those aren't some of you're social security digits. Oops. Anyway, I'll keep writing if you keep reviewing. Thanks for the encouragement.  
**Firebirdgs:** Thanks for the review and for the compliment…. It's hard to imagine that this story is that good, but thanks all the same. Oh, and Ducky is my little sister (maybe I'll tell you what her real name is after the story is done). She got her nickname from the movie The Land Before Time because Ducky (in the movie) is one of the most adorable animated characters ever created, and my sister Ducky is one of the most adorable people God (in His wisdom) ever made. But shhh! Don't tell her that.

_**Ducky:I heard that! YOU LOVE ME!  
**_**Dreamsweeper:No I don't. I love cookies. And reviews. But not you.  
**_**Ducky:Yes you do, you love me! Jumps on top of Dreamsweeper  
**_**Dreamsweeper:GET OFF OF ME!  
**_**Ducky:Heee!  
**_**_Both:REVIEW!_**


	10. Potions

Author's Note:  
**Dreamsweeper:****Holy cow, Ducky! How long has it been exactly?  
**_Ducky:__I don't even know... come to think of it, I don't even know if anyone out there still reads this one...  
_**Dreamsweeper:****What happened?  
**_Ducky:__Uhh.... we kinda grew up... I'm in college, you're a teacher... we're busy people, and this stuff is bound to happen.  
_**Dreamsweeper:****Apparently... anyway, here is a NEW chapter of Saving Grace, for you die hard fans out there who still enjoy it.  
**_Ducky:__And sorry to those who have been waiting for an update.  
_**_Both:_********_ENJOY! _**

* * *

Lights flashed and interrupted the night, a red glow illuminating the dark starless sky.

"Harry!" She was running. "Harry!"

Her voice was hoarse; it hurt her throat to speak, worse even to scream. Her lungs burned, demanding oxygen, yet the need to press on overpowered the rest of her senses. She would be too late and they would die. She had to run faster, keep going, push harder. And yet the ground wasn't moving by fast enough. Instead, it was gliding by at a relaxed rate, as if she was walking. More red flashes broke the dark night. Her heart wrenched in her chest.

"Harry!" There was a jolt. And she was falling.

Janie landed in a heap of blankets on the cold stone floor of her dormitory, her legs tangled in her bedclothes. A glimmer of sweat shone on her pale forehead, and her breaths erupted from her chest in sporadic bursts.

"Not again." Janie threw her fist into the bundle of bedding before trying to untie herself from the mess of sheets. It hadn't been long since she'd had the same dream, just two days. Janie didn't want to call it a nightmare, because there was nothing remarkable about it. If she dreamt it again, then she would consider labeling it with "nightmare," but until then, it was just a recurring dream…that she'd experienced seven or eight times, and always in the same fashion.

Throwing the bedding back onto her mattress, Janie glared out the window at the faint glimmer of dawn as it began its approach over the Eastern horizon. Her bedroom in California faced the West for this specific reason.

"Stupid sun." Janie's growl was punctuated by a fist in her pillow. To emphasize her dislike of daylight, she slammed the pillow over her head and rolled over. It was a problem, being at Hogwarts and feeling the way she did. Three weeks into her stay, and she still didn't feel like she belonged. She smacked her head against her bed.

A moment later, her door opened.

"Janie! What are you doing?"

"I'm knitting a sweater, Hermoine."

"Get up! You're supposed to start your tutoring with Snape today!" Janie could hear her zipping around the room opening wardrobe doors and throwing different articles of uniform on to the bed.

"Ugh, why?"

"Because you start in ten minutes, Janie!"

A moment passed.

"WHAT?!" Janie threw the blankets off of her and tore off her pajamas in a flurry.

"Why didn't you wake me up or come and get me when you didn't see me in the common room or anything?"

Hermione averted her eyes and handed her the garments as Janie continued on her tirade of waking up late. Two minutes later she was dressed in complete uniform, shoes tied via a charm from Hermione, a piece of toast in hand, and dashing out of her room with her school bag draped over her shoulder.

With a hand drawn map in hand, courtesy of Ron, she made her way through the hallway, down the stairs, past the Great Hall and down into the dungeon. She had never been late to one of her tutorials with Professor Flitwick or even Professor Dumbledore. It was her sheer rotten luck that this would be the day to sleep in. Ron had filled her in on the history of Professor Snape; he was a greasy-haired git with a vendetta against anything "Potter-ish". Being late was not a good idea.

The hallway became dark and dank, and Janie followed the map, turning around the bends. The dungeons were a labyrinth, and Janie had heard that many first year students found themselves in the clutches of uncharitable Slytherins on numerous occassions. With the knowledge that she hadn't yet been taught any defensive spells, Janie was on her guard.

Which is why she breathed a sigh of relief when she found the entrance to the Potions classroom. Janie fumbled for the door handle and threw herself into the room, not knowing how much time she had before she was officially late.

"Welcome Ms. Carver." She heard from one of the various dark corners of the classroom.

"Er- hi. Professor Snape?" Janie inched forward, and a fit of anxious butterflies sprung up in her stomach. She heard the rustling of papers and the clinking of glass fill the room.

"You are late. We have much to do and little time to do it in. If you are as incapable and incompetent as your brother, then we already have much against us as well." Janie heard Professor Snape sneer as he moved about the room in the darkness.

"Have. A. Seat." It wasn't a question, nor was it a request. So Janie plopped into the closest seat nearest to her in the back of the classroom, afraid to even open her mouth.

"Open your book to chapter one. We will be moving quickly; therefore you shall not speak unless I tell you to, understood?" Janie nodded quickly once.

"Begin reading."

Janie read. An hour passed, and she had finished the first seven chapters. Her eyes were beginning to ache. And she was thirsty. Professor Snape was somewhere in the classroom, but had never emerged from the shadows where he had been ordering her from. Janie looked up from her huge potions book and peered into the shadows. She saw nothing and sighed.

"Bored, are we? Perhaps you feel you've learned enough?" The voice came from the shadows in front of the classroom. Janie shook her head.

"No, its just that-"

"That you are as lazy as your pitiful brother? That was foreseeable."

Janie was beginning to tire of the cheap shots against her brother. She closed her eyes and took a breath. An unlit candle on the Snape's desk began to glow.

"I was just giving my eyes a break, professor." Janie fought hard to keep her tone civil, and the candle's wick began to burn. The small flame lit the corner with a dull yellow light.

"As far behind as you are, Carver, I would say you should quit whilst ahead. Sadly," Snape continued, "that is talent that seems lacking in your family. Otherwise you might still have your pathetic father."

And that was her limit. The candle burst into full flame and lit the front end of the room, illuminating Snape at his desk. Janie ignored it and instead fought the angry tears that were gathering in the corners of her eyes.

"Hey! Lay off my family. I know you don't like my brother, I get that. And I know you can't stand my father. But guess what! I am **not** them. I never even met my father. Neither did my brother. So leave. Them. Alone." The candle flickered emphatically with each syllable.

She saw Snape stand up and lean towards her with his hands on his desk.

"Fifty points from Gryffindor for blatant disrespect and belligerence."

With that he leaned farther and blew out the candle, dousing him once again into the darkness.

A traitorous tear slipped down Janie's face. She wiped it away, angry at herself and furious with Snape. Then she turned her eyes back toward chapter eight.

Two hours later she heard Snape's chair scrape against the dungeon stone as he stood.

"Enough Ms. Carver. Two feet of parchment on the uses of Newts, due tomorrow."

And then she was alone. Janie closed her potions book, dog-earring her page somewhere in chapter twenty-four. She gathered her things and threw them in her shoulder bag and left the room.

The hallway was busy and cluttered with children, most of whom were shorter than she was. A few older students with Slytherin ties cut in between them, some stopping to taunt and harass the shortest children.

"Poor first years." Janie shook her head. There was nothing she could do, seeing as how the first years knew more about defense than she did.

"Poor first years?" A voice from slightly behind her exclaimed. Janie whipped around and found a tall and impossibly blonde boy looking down his nose at her. "If you were smart, you would be saying 'Poor me.'" He circled round her, two fat and stupid looking boys close by, laughing at her.

Janie stood tall and tried not to show the intimidation eating away at her brave exterior. She glared at the blonde boy.

"What do you want?"

"To teach you a lesson for loitering in our hallway, Gryffindor."

"I wasn't loitering, I was exiting a classroom, you pinheaded buffoon." The insult slipped out before Janie had a chance to reel it back in. The blonde's face was frozen for a half-second in shoc before slowly drawing his wand. He tapped it in his hand slowly, repeatedly. The two fat boys chuckled and elbowed each other.

"You may be a transfer, but you must know that that comment will cost you. Dearly."

Grimacing at herself and her loose lips, she prepared to be decimated. She felt a bead of sweat roll down her back.

"Janie! There you are!" A red-headed girl who Janie didn't recognize came sprinting up towards her. "I've been looking all over for you. Did you forget you were supposed to meet me in front of the Great Hall five minutes ago?"

"Weasel, what do you want?" The blonde drawled out, pointing his wand at the two of them.

"I'm trying to have lunch with my cousin, Malfoy. Get your wand out of my face."

Janie's heart was racing. The red-headed girl was Ginny, and how Ginny knew about Janie all of the sudden didn't seem to matter. Ginny was saving her life. Well, at least another trip to the infirmary.

"Of course she's your cousin. I could tell by the wretched stench coming off of her poor house clothing."

Janie said nothing, but glared at him, and the torches in the hallway got a bit brighter. Ginny didn't seem to pay any attention to his comment.

"Thanks for keeping an eye on her, Malfoy. You can go play 'Find the Ferret' with your two idiots now." With that, Ginny grabbed Janie's arm and towed her towards the stairs that led away from the dungeon, keeping herself half-turned, glancing behind her every now and again. Once they were closer to the Great Hall, Ginny released her arm.

"Thanks Ginny, I got sidetracked there."

Ginny smiled, "I'm just glad you knew who I was. I was half-terrified that you would ask me who I was whilst I was trying to convince Malfoy that we're related. Luckily that wasn't too terribly difficult."

"How'd you find me?"

"I wasn't joking when I said I was going to meet you for lunch. Hermione asked me to meet you and make sure you didn't get into trouble. I didn't know she was so serious."

"It seems that I have a knack for getting into trouble."

"It's a family trait, I'd wager."

They were in the Great Hall, surrounded by the buzzing of students eating lunch and studying. The two auburn haired girls sat down at the Gryffindor table. Janie pulled a piece of toast on to her plate, followed by some potatoes. An uncomfortable and silent moment passed.

"So…" Janie began, not knowing what to follow it with.

"So." Ginny didn't fare any better.

"So," Janie began again, "what was your reaction to the news? I mean, of my heritage."

Ginny laughed.

"I cursed. My brother was not too pleased with my language choice. But then, he likes those words more than I do in any event. How did you handle it?"

It was Janie's turn to laugh.

"I threw up. And then I passed out. It may have been the other way around. It's been a rough past few weeks."

Ginny nodded.

"I don't envy you at all."

"Neither do I."

"You must miss your home."

Janie nodded. No one had asked that before, and the question brought tears to her eyes.

"More than I can say."

"Well if you ever want to talk about it, and don't feel like talking to your sibling, the headgirl, or my daft sibling, let me know. I'm always up for a bit of an intellectually stimulating girlish-chat."

Janie smiled, thankful that Ginny had arrived. She was easy to talk to, and handy in a pinch.

"I may take you up on that offer. Harry is never around, Hermione only wants to talk about academic nonsense and Ron never listens. And after my tutorial session today, I feel like I'm going mad."

"That's why I'm here; to provide sanity reinforcement. Here, have some pumpkin juice. It's good for your skin."

For the first time in weeks, Janie felt a bit more at home.

* * *

AN: So here it is, sorry if its ridiculously short. Ducky and I (Dreamsweeper) do have several excellent explanations as to why this took an ungodly amount of time to produce, one of which being... well... life. We LOVE REVIEWS, and they inspire us to write more, so please help us out and leave your constructive criticism!!! Gracias!


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